The role of indirect interactions via shared pollinators in shaping grassland communities along productivity gradients
Final Report Abstract
Although insect pollination has long been recognized as highly important for the survival of wild plants, we are only starting to understand the factors governing plant-pollinator interactions in the community context. In this project we focused on three traits of plant species in a community context – their density, their spatial distribution and their attractiveness to pollinators relative to other species growing in their vicinity. We studied how the three traits affect the interactions between plants and their pollinators, and in particularly, how they may change the indirect plant interactions by increasing or decreasing pollination success of neighboring plants. We focused out empirical work on two grasslands that differ in their productivity level. We compared the field results with more controlled studies in the garden and with theoretical models. The most important results of the project were: Species density plays a major role in determining the outcome of plant-pollinators interactions. When highly abundant, a highly conspicuous species will divert pollinators away from other flowering species in its neighborhood. However, when it is sparse, it may significantly contribute to the attraction of pollinator to the patch from afar, and thus may increase pollination success of other species in the same patch. The direction and level of effect of a conspicuous species on neighboring plants are governed by the traits of the neighbors. Neighbors whose inflorescences can be considered conspicuous due to their size and color are more affected (positively and negatively) by the interactions with conspicuous species than less conspicuous neighbors. The impact of the conspicuous species on neighboring plants is also affected by the spatial distribution of the plants. We could prove, both theoretically and empirically, that a less conspicuous neighbor will benefit from the presence of a conspicuous species only when the two are segregated at the patch scale. On the other hand, relatively conspicuous neighbors received more visits when the highly conspicuous species was regularly distributed in the patch. A flexible and user friendly modelling platform for the study of plant-pollinator interactions was developed. The platform can accommodate large number of plant and pollinator species with distinct traits. It can also study the effect of several foraging and learning strategies. As such, the platform is a unique tool for further study of both theoretical and more applicative oriented questions regarding the potential effects of plant-pollinator interactions on plant communities.
Publications
- 2011. Density and spatial distribution of an attractive species: effects on plant-pollinator interaction structure in grasslands? The 24th annual conference of the of the plant population biology section, GfÖ, Oxford, Great Britain
Hanoteaux S., E.M. Hoch, Tielbörger K. and M. Seifan
- 2011. Plant community structure helps manipulating shared pollination services – the role of species density and spatial pattern. The 24th annual conference of the of the plant population biology section, GfÖ, Oxford, Great Britain
Seifan M., Hoch E.M., Hanoteaux S., and K. Tielbörger
- 2013. A spatially explicit agent-based simulation platform for investigating effects of shared pollination service on ecological communities. Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 37: 107-104
Qu H.C., Seifan T., Tielbörger K., M. Seifan
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simpat.2013.06.003) - 2013. Effects of spatial patterns on the pollination success of a less attractive species. Oikos 122: 867-880
Hanoteaux S., K. Tielbörger and M. Seifan
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.20801.x) - 2013. Shifts in the outcome of shared pollination services are affected by the density and spatial pattern of an attractive neighbor. The 26th annual conference of the of the plant population biology section, GfÖ, Tartu, Estonia
Seifan M., Hoch E.M., Hanotaoux S., K. Tielbörger
- 2014. The outcome of shared pollination services is affected by the density and spatial pattern of as attractive neighbor. Journal of Ecology 102:953-962
Seifan, M., Hoch E.M., S. Hanoteaux, K. Tielbörger
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12256) - 2014. The role of indirect plant-plant interactions via shared pollinators: a combined experimental and theoretical study in Species rich temperate grasslands. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Tübingen, Germany
Hanoteaux, S.
