© 2018 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. G. L. Stebbins' most effective pollinator principle states that when pollinators are not limiting, plants are expected to specialize and adapt to ...

Eschweilera nana is pollinated by a guild of pollinators consisting of mostly bees. Effective pollinators are large bees able to force their way into the closed androecium to access nectar. The morphology of the flowers ...

Previous studies have examined separately how pollinator generalization and abundance influence plant reproductive success, but none so far has evaluated simultaneously the relative importance of these pollinator attributes. Here we evaluated the extent to which pollinator generalization and abundance influence plant reproductive success per visit and at the population level on a generalist plant, Opuntia sulphurea (Cactaceae). We used field experiments and path analysis to evaluate whether the per-visit effect is determined by the pollinator?s degree of generalization, and whether the population level effect (pollinator impact) is determined by the pollinator?s degree of generalization and abundance. Based on the models we tested, we concluded that the per-visit effect of a pollinator on plant reproduction was not determined by the pollinators? degree of generalization, while the population-level impact of a pollinator on plant reproduction was mainly determined by the pollinators? degree of generalization. Thus, generalist pollinators have the greatest species impact on pollination and reproductive success of O. sulphurea. According to our analysis this greatest impact of generalist pollinators may be partly explained by pollinator abundance. However, as abundance does not suffice as an explanation of pollinator impact, we suggest that vagility, need for resource consumption, and energetic efficiency of generalist pollinators may also contribute to determine a pollinator?s impact on plant reproduction....

Many angiosperm lineages present transitions from bee to hummingbird pollination. The flower design in most of these lineages includes either corolla tubes or nectar spurs, structures that commonly experienced an elongation ...

The diversity and abundance of wild insect pollinators have declined in many agricultural landscapes. Whether such declines reduce crop yields, or are mitigated by managed pollinators such as honey bees, is unclear. We ...

Effective pollination is a complex, context-dependent phenomenon determined by both species-level and community-level factors. While pollinator communities are constituted by interacting organisms in a shared environment, ...

Inga species present brush-type flower morphology allowing them to be visited by distinct groups of pollinators. Nectar features in relation to the main pollinators have seldom been studied in this genus. To test the ...

The loss of natural habitats is one of the main causes of the global decline of biodiversity. Understanding how increasing habitat loss affects ecological processes is critical for mitigating the effects of environmental ...