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Plant-Pollinator Interactions

From Specialization to Generalization

Edited by Nickolas M. Waser and Jeff Ollerton

Plant-Pollinator Interactions

From Specialization to Generalization

Edited by Nickolas M. Waser and Jeff Ollerton

Just as flowering plants depend on their pollinators, many birds, insects, and bats rely on plants for energy and nutrients. This plant-pollinator relationship is essential to the survival of natural and agricultural ecosystems. Plant-Pollinator Interactions portrays the intimate relationships of pollination over time and space and reveals patterns of interactions from individual to community levels, showing how these patterns change at different spatial and temporal scales.

Nickolas M. Waser and Jeff Ollerton bring together experts from around the world to offer a comprehensive analysis of pollination, including the history of thinking about specialization and generalization and a comparison of pollination to other mutualisms. An overview of current thinking and of future research priorities, Plant-Pollinator Interactions covers an important theme in evolutionary ecology with far-reaching applications in conservation and agriculture. This book will find an eager audience in specialists studying pollination and other mutualisms, as well as with biologists who are interested in ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral aspects of the specialization and generalization of species.

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Biological Sciences: Biology--Systematics, Botany, Conservation, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Natural History, Physiology, Biomechanics, and Morphology

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Reviews

"In Plant–Pollinator Interactions, Waser and Ollerton bring together experts from different regions of the world to address how patterns of specialization and generalization in pollination systems vary across spatial and temporal scales. . . . An important contribution to our understanding of plant–pollinator interactions. . . . By reading this book . . . one will conclude that pollination biology is undergoing a renaissance that will ultimately provide us with a deeper understanding of the evolutionary and ecological processes involved in this fascinating interaction."

Shuang-Quan Huang | Trends in Ecology and Evolution

"Plant-Pollinator Interactions covers an important theme in evolutionary ecology with far-reaching applications in conservation and agriculture. This book will find an eager audience in specialists studying pollination and other mutualisms, as well as with biologists who are interested in ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral aspects of the specialization and generalization of species."

Ethology | Ecology & Evolution

"A masterful overview of a rich field in a stage of dynamic ferment....Plant-Pollinator Interactions will define much of the debate on the central issue of specialization and generalization in pollination biology. I recommend it to all students of pollination, as well as to those interested in broader issues of plant and animal interactions."

Henry F. Howe | BioScience

"This book contributes to a better understanding of the role of specialists and generalists, not only in the plant-pollinator research, but in the evolution and ecology of trophic interactions."

Carlos J. Melián | Ecology

"The book will not only prove to be a handy reference but it will also prove to stimulate new research by showing how recently developed tools . . . have enabled researchers to address questions that for a long time have been inaccessible."

Peter Klinkhamer | Annals of Botany

"Pollination biology at its best!...This book is a must-read for pollination biologists, and for those interested in evolutionary ecology, biological interactions, and co-evolution."

Markus Fischer | Basic and Applied Ecology

"A timely piece, providing a comprehensive view of our current understanding of multispecies plant-pollinator interactions. The chapters are well referenced and well written, making for an informative text for graduate students as well as researchers."

Rebecca E. Irwin | Ecoscience

Table of Contents

Preface Part I. Introduction and History
1          Specialization and Generalization in Plant–Pollinator Interactions: A Historical Perspective / Nickolas M. Waser

Part II. The Ecology and Evolution of Specialized and Generalized Pollination / Introductory comments by Jeff Ollerton, W. Scott Armbruster, and Diego P. Vázquez
2          The Evolution of Specialized Floral Phenotypes in a Fine-grained Pollination Environment / Paul A. Aigner
3          Shifts between Bee and Bird Pollination in Penstemons / Paul Wilson, Maria Clara Castellanos, Andrea D. Wolfe, and James D. Thomson
4          Incidental Mutualisms and Pollen Specialization among Bees / Robert L. Minckley and T’ai H. Roulston
5          Characterizing Floral Specialization by Bees: Analytical Methods and a Revised Lexicon for Oligolecty / James H. Cane and Sedonia Sipes
6          Rewardless Flowers in the Angiosperms and the Role of Insect Cognition in Their Evolution / Susanne S. Renner
7          Ecological Factors That Promote the Evolution of Generalization in Pollination Systems / José M. Gómez and Regino Zamora

Part III. Community and Biogeographic Perspectives / Introductory comments by Nickolas M. Waser and Jeff Ollerton
8          The Ecological Consequences of Complex Topology and Nested Structure in Pollination Webs / Pedro Jordano, Jordi Bascompte, and Jens M. Olesen
9          Community-wide Patterns of Specialization in Plant–Pollinator Interactions Revealed by Null Models / Diego P. Vázquez and Marcelo A. Aizen
10        Mutual Use of Resources in Mediterranean Plant–Pollinator Communities: How Specialized Are Pollination Webs? / Theodora Petanidou and Simon G. Potts
11        Measuring Generalization and Connectance in Temperate, Year-long Active Systems / Diego Medan, Alicia M. Basilio, Mariano Devoto, Norberto J. Bartoloni, Juan P. Torretta, and Theodora Petanidou
12        Evolutionary and Ecological Aspects of Specialized Pollination: Views from the Arctic to the Tropics / W. Scott Armbruster
13        Geographical Variation in Diversity and Specificity of Pollination Systems / Jeff Ollerton, Steven D. Johnson, and Andrew B. Hingston

Part IV. Applications in Agriculture and Conservation / Introductory comments by Nickolas M. Waser and Margaret M. Mayfield
14        A Typology of Pollination Systems: Implications for Crop Management and the Conservation of Wild Plants / Sarah A. Corbet
15        The Conservation of Specialized and Generalized Pollination Systems in Subtropical Ecosystems: A Case Study / Suzanne Koptur
16        Ecology of Plant Reproduction: Extinction Risks and Restoration Perspectives of Rare Plant Species / Manja M. Kwak and Renée M. Bekker
17        Bee Diversity and Plant–Pollinator Interactions in Fragmented Landscapes / Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Volker Gaebele, Thomas Alfert, and Teja Tscharntke

Part V. Final Considerations: Pollination Compared to Other Interactions
18        "Biological Barter": Patterns of Specialization Compared across Different Mutualisms / Jeff Ollerton

List of Contributors
Index