Progress in pollination ecology at the community level

Abstract

Co-flowering plant species may share pollinators within a community, while pollinators may collect rewards from different plant species, stimulating studies of pollination ecology at the community level. Studies of the interactions between plants and pollinators and between plant species in communities, as opposed to studying individual plant species, could provide more evidence for pollinator-mediated flower evolution, interspecific competition, and how communities assemble. Plant-pollinator interactions have been incorporated into network constructions to study the influence of dynamic pollination networks on plant reproduction. Studies of pollination networks could provide new insights into the evolution of floral traits, especially in sympatric species within natural communities. Previous studies of pollinator-mediated interactions between plant species have generally focused on two or a few plant species rather than numerous co-flowering species. Recent studies have emphasized factors that affect pollen fate, such as pollination efficiency, pollen interference on stigmas, and pollen loss when a pollinator visits different plant species. The fundamental ecological service of pollination is increasingly affected by anthropogenic forces, especially the negative consequences of biological invasions and habitat fragmentation. These challenges highlight the importance of biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration. Studies of pollination ecology at the community level have recently emerged in China. However, more observational and experimental studies at multiple spatio-temporal scales are required to explore plant-pollinator and plant-plant interactions and to enhance our understanding of community assemblages, species interactions, and floral evolution at a larger scale.