Gametophytic competition games among relatives: When does spatial structure select for facilitativeness or competitiveness in pollination?

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Abstract Determining whether pollination occurs competitively or rather facilitatively among co‐flowering plants is a central question in plant reproductive ecology. Kobayashi [2018; Journal of Ecology 107: 1433–1438] theoretically investigated the scenario in which intraspecific pollen tube competition (male–male competition) can lead to regulation of population growth due to reduced female success. Kobayashi (2018) showed that evolutionary dynamics in intraspecific pollen tube competition can reduce female success and consequently generate negative density‐dependence of population growth, which allows for numerous species to coexist in a spatially subdivided metacommunity. Kobayashi (2018) hypothesized that trait evolution driven by sexual selection may maintain biodiversity. However, the models proposed by Kobayashi (2018) allow for the assumptions to be relaxed; he assumed: (i) fully global seed dispersal (instead of limited dispersal, albeit the spatial subdivision), (ii) fully local pollination (i.e., pollination occurred exclusively within patches), (iii) selfing rate was exactly proportionate (i.e., pollen grains distributed equally among all individuals within a patch, irrespective of their parental origins), (iv) haploid mode of inheritance, and most importantly, (v) each individual was mutually competitive, rather than facilitative for pollination. Here, I extend the models of Kobayashi (2018) and show that when I relax assumptions (i)–(v), facilitativeness, as opposed to competitiveness, is more likely to be favoured by selection. The present results are attributed to kin selection in gametopythic competition among relatives in spatially subdivided populations. If facilitativeness for pollination is favoured by kin selection, then the premise that the evolution of pollen traits can generate negative density‐dependence does not necessarily follow. I also discuss the potential mechanisms by which pollen phenotypes can either strengthen or attenuate intraspecific and interspecific competition.