Requirements for plant coexistence through pollination niche partitioning

Benadi, Gita

doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.0117

Cited by 29 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…The combination of interspecific facilitation with stronger benefits for rare species, and intraspecific competition is thought to maintain biodiversity (Feldman et al ). Interestingly, we found empirical evidence for such mechanisms in a relatively generalised community, despite the theoretical requirement of niche partitioning (pollination specialisation) for NDD (Pauw ; Benadi ). We propose that strong facilitation fosters coexistence in generalised communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Pollination outcomes reveal negative density‐dependence coupled with interspecific facilitation among plants

et al. 2019

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Pollination is thought to be under positive density‐dependence, destabilising plant coexistence by conferring fitness disadvantages to rare species. Such disadvantage is exacerbated by interspecific competition but can be mitigated by facilitation and intraspecific competition. However, pollinator scarcity should enhance intraspecific plant competition and impose disadvantage on common over rare species (negative density‐dependence, NDD). We assessed pollination proxies (visitation rate, pollen receipt, pollen tubes) in a generalised plant community and related them to conspecific and heterospecific density, expecting NDD and interspecific facilitation due to the natural pollinator scarcity. Contrary to usual expectations, all proxies indicated strong intraspecific competition for common plants. Moreover interspecific facilitation prevailed and was stronger for rare than for common plants. Both NDD and interspecific facilitation were modulated by specialisation, floral display and pollinator group. The combination of intraspecific competition and interspecific facilitation fosters plant coexistence, suggesting that pollination can be a niche axis maintaining plant diversity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Pollination outcomes reveal negative density‐dependence coupled with interspecific facilitation among plants

et al. 2019

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“…There has been recent theoretical interest in coexistence of mutualists that compete for shared commodities (Lee and Inouye , Benadi et al. , , Song and Feldman , Benadi , Revilla and Křivan ). These models, however, do not yield clear criteria for competitive exclusion, as R * and P * theories do for other consumer–resource interactions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies predict that competitors engaging with shared mutualists may coexist when mutualists adaptively forage (e.g., Song and Feldman , Revilla and Křivan ), are sufficiently specialized (e.g., Benadi et al. , Benadi ), or influence partners in a way that benefits competitors (e.g., Bever , Lee and Inouye ). It is difficult, however, to distill concrete coexistence criteria from these models as do R * and P * theories for predator–prey interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From a theoretical perspective, few models explicitly consider competition for mutualistic commodities, and those that do have generated diverse and sometimes contrasting predictions. For example, some models predict that mutualistic interactions may undermine competitor coexistence by amplifying existing competitive asymmetries (e.g., Benadi 2015). Other studies predict that competitors engaging with shared mutualists may coexist when mutualists adaptively forage (e.g., Song andFeldman 2014, Revilla andK rivan 2016), are sufficiently specialized (e.g., Benadi et al 2013, Benadi 2015, or influence partners in a way that benefits competitors (e.g., Bever 2003, Lee andInouye 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coexistence and competitive exclusion in mutualism

Johnson

Bronstein

2019

Ecology

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The competitive exclusion principle is fundamental to understanding coexistence. Well‐established theories predict the conditions for coexistence in consumer–resource interactions. Given that species often compete for commodities offered by mutualists, competitive exclusion theory should also be critical to understanding how mutualisms function. We explicitly apply the competitive exclusion principle to mutualism and derive a rule analogous to Tilman's R* rule for exploitative competition. Coexistence is impossible when competitors compete solely for a shared partner‐provided commodity because superior competitors deplete that commodity sufficiently to exclude inferior competitors. We then investigate how competition between two guild members for a partner‐provided commodity and a resource external to the mutualism affects competitor coexistence. There are three key results. First, coexistence is possible via partitioning of a partner‐provided commodity and another resource. Second, unlike in classic R* Theory, competitive outcomes are influenced both by species’ abilities to obtain commodities and their mutualisms with the shared commodity‐providing partner, which can indirectly alleviate competitors’ commodity limitation. Third, the outcome of competition has important consequences for the commodity‐providing partner, which depend on the type of mutualism and the competitive abilities of competing mutualists. This theory provides a novel framework for investigating how competitors for mutualistic commodities coexist in nature.

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“…Less well studied are floral traits that are important for the plants' sexual reproduction, which requires animal pollen vectors in zoophilous plants and was suggested to be of particular importance for alpine plant species (Fabbro and Körner 2004). The few studies that considered floral traits in a community-ecological context (e.g., Benadi et al 2014;Junker et al 2013;Runquist et al 2016;Wolowski et al 2017) suggest a contribution of these traits to plant community composition (Benadi 2015;Pauw 2013;Sargent and Ackerly 2007). Indeed, recent studies show that floral traits, such as morphology, colour, and scent shape plant-pollinator interactions, affect the diversity of flower visiting animals in communities, and explain the presence or absence of competition between plant species for pollinators (Carvalheiro et al 2014;Junker et al 2013Junker et al , 2015Junker and Parachnowitsch 2015;Kuppler et al 2016;Larue et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation predicts the functional composition of alpine plant communities based on vegetative traits, but not based on floral traits

Junker

Larue-Kontić

2018

Alp Botany

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The functional diversity and composition of plant traits within communities are tightly linked to important ecosystem functions and processes. Whereas vegetative traits reflecting adaptations to environmental conditions are commonly assessed in community ecology, floral traits are often neglected despite their importance for the plants' life cycle. The consideration of floral traits covers important aspects such as sexual plant reproduction and pollinator diversity, which remain unobserved in studies focussing on vegetative traits only. To test whether vegetative and floral traits differ in their responses to elevation, we measured morphological and chemical traits of plant species occurring in pastures at seven elevations in the Austrian Alps. Variation in functional composition was examined using the concept of n-dimensional hypervolumes and vector analysis. Our data show that vegetative and floral traits vary differently with the elevational gradient. Whereas vegetative traits changed in a predictable manner with elevation, floral traits did not specifically respond to elevation. Overall variation in vegetative traits mainly resulted from phenotypical differences between plants in different elevations, whereas total variation in floral traits was a result from a high variation within communities. The assessment of functional changes in vegetative and floral traits along mountain slopes thus reveals different patterns in plant responses to elevation and may help to generate testable hypotheses on functional responses to current climate warming.

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Requirements for plant coexistence through pollination niche partitioning

Cited by 29 publications

References 39 publications

Pollination outcomes reveal negative density‐dependence coupled with interspecific facilitation among plants

Pollination outcomes reveal negative density‐dependence coupled with interspecific facilitation among plants

Coexistence and competitive exclusion in mutualism

Elevation predicts the functional composition of alpine plant communities based on vegetative traits, but not based on floral traits

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