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ContentSnapshots, Annals of Botany, Volume 113, Issue 2, January 2014, Pages i–iii, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mct307
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Pollinator-driven speciation of flowering plants (Viewpoint)
doi:10.1093/aob/mct290
Pollinators have long been implicated as important drivers of micro- and macroevolution in angiosperms, but much remains to be learnt about their role in speciation. Van der Niet et al. (pp. 199–211)consider pollinator-driven speciation as a form of ecological speciation, in which adaptation and speciation are seamlessly linked. Pollinators can act as agents of divergent selection on floral traits, leading to the evolution of pollination ecotypes. The geographical mosaic of selection can be determined not only by pollinator distribution, but also by the presence of plant species that compete for pollinator service. Whether adaptation to a new pollination system can lead directly to the evolution of reproductive isolation still remains poorly understood. The field will benefit from future research efforts that focus on quantification of male fitness effects and reproductive isolation.
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Pollinators, florivores and floral polymorphism in Ursinia
doi:10.1093/aob/mct189
While studies often implicate pollinator-mediated selection in floral evolution, selection exerted by antagonistic florivores is seldom considered. de Jager and Ellis (pp. 213–222)investigate these interactions in the South African daisy, Ursinia calenduliflora, and find that both pollinators and florivores exhibit significant preference for the same floral morphotypes. These results suggest that antagonistic selection may help maintain floral polymorphism across the range of a species and that the selective landscape for flowers may be more complex than predicted by pollinators alone.
