title: The potential for indirect effects between co-flowering plants via shared pollinators depends on resource abundance, accessibility and relatedness.
abstract: Co-flowering plant species commonly share flower visitors, and thus have the potential to influence each other's pollination. In this study we analysed 750 quantitative plant-pollinator networks from 28 studies representing diverse biomes worldwide. We show that the potential for one plant species to influence another indirectly via shared pollinators was greater for plants whose resources were more abundant (higher floral unit number and nectar sugar content) and more accessible. The potential indirect influence was also stronger between phylogenetically closer plant species and was independent of plant geographic origin (native vs. non-native). The positive effect of nectar sugar content and phylogenetic proximity was much more accentuated for bees than for other groups. Consequently, the impact of these factors depends on the pollination mode of plants, e.g. bee or fly pollinated. Our findings may help predict which plant species have the greatest importance in the functioning of plant-pollination networks.
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, RA Leiden, 2300, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Luísa Gigante
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Carvalheiro
authors.forename: Jacobus Christiaan
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Biesmeijer
authors.forename: Gita
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benadi
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fründ
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stang
authors.forename: Ignasi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bartomeus
authors.forename: Christopher N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Kaiser-Bunbury
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baude
authors.forename: Sofia I F
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Merckx
authors.forename: Katherine C R
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Baldock
authors.forename: Andrew T D
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boada
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bommarco
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cartar
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chacoff
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dänhardt
authors.forename: Lynn V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Dicks
authors.forename: Carsten F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Dormann
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ekroos
authors.forename: Kate S E
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Henson
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holzschuh
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Junker
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lopezaraiza-Mikel
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Memmott
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montero-Castaño
authors.forename: Isabel L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Theodora
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Petanidou
authors.forename: Eileen F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Power
authors.forename: Maj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rundlöf
authors.forename: Henrik G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jane C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Stout
authors.forename: Kehinde
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Temitope
authors.forename: Teja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tscharntke
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tscheulin
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vilà
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Kunin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D004175:Diptera; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics*; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny; D057048:Plant Nectar / Q000737:chemistry; D054817:Pollination
chemical_list: D057048:Plant Nectar
keywords: Facilitation; floral traits; flower density; flower resources; indirect interactions; interspecific competition; morphological similarity; nectar; phylogenetic distance; plant-pollinator networks