POLLINATION OF ANGIOSPERMS IN CONTRASTING CONIFEROUS FORESTS

Abstract

We studied the distributions of flower color, flower morphology, and putative pollinators in eight communities in the western Cascades of Washington and 14 communities in the eastern Cascades. These two forested regions differ in the proportions of species in each flower color and morphological type such that the eastern region is more complex. The putative pollinators of each species were determined from morphological and color properties of the flowers and from the recent, extensive literature. The floristic complement of the western region appears to be serviced by a collection of pollinators that is less diverse than that of the east. In each region there is a strong positive correlation between species richness and flower color diversity, floral morphology diversity, and putative pollinator diversity, respectively. These comparisons suggest the competition for pollinators has led to greater niche differentiation in the eastern regions and that this factor, combined with greater habitat complexity, results in the far greater species richness of the eastern region.