Towards the theory of pollinator-mediated gene flow.
I present a new exposition of a model of gene flow by animal-mediated pollination between a source population and a sink population. The model's parameters describe two elements: (i) the expected portion of the source's paternity that extends to the sink population; and (ii) the dilution of this portion by within-sink pollinations. The model is termed the portion-dilution model (PDM). The PDM is a parametric restatement of the conventional view of animal-mediated pollination. In principle, it can be applied to plant species in general. I formulate a theoretical value of the portion parameter that maximizes gene flow and prescribe this as a benchmark against which to judge the performance of real systems. Existing foraging theory can be used in solving part of the PDM, but a theory for source-to-sink transitions by pollinators is currently elusive.
Cresswell
James E
JE
School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK. j.e.cresswell@ex.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005075:Biological Evolution; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D011058:Pollen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction