title: A quantitative review of pollination syndromes: do floral traits predict effective pollinators?
abstract: The idea of pollination syndromes has been largely discussed but no formal quantitative evaluation has yet been conducted across angiosperms. We present the first systematic review of pollination syndromes that quantitatively tests whether the most effective pollinators for a species can be inferred from suites of floral traits for 417 plant species. Our results support the syndrome concept, indicating that convergent floral evolution is driven by adaptation to the most effective pollinator group. The predictability of pollination syndromes is greater in pollinator-dependent species and in plants from tropical regions. Many plant species also have secondary pollinators that generally correspond to the ancestral pollinators documented in evolutionary studies. We discuss the utility and limitations of pollination syndromes and the role of secondary pollinators to understand floral ecology and evolution.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari), 58089, Morelia, Michoacán, México; Unidad Académica en Desarrollo Sustentable, Campus Costa Grande, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Carretera Nacional Acapulco Zihuatanejo Km 106 + 900, Colonia Las Tunas, Tecpan de Galeana, Guerrero, 40900, México.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rosas-Guerrero
authors.forename: Ramiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martén-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ashworth
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lopezaraiza-Mikel
authors.forename: Jesús M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bastida
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quesada
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D005075:Biological Evolution; D035264:Flowers / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005843:Geography; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D054817:Pollination / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Floral evolution; floral syndromes; meta-analysis; plant breeding systems; plant reproduction; pollination efficiency; pollination networks; specialisation; tropical ecology