Abstract
Pollinator-driven diversification is thought to be a major source of floral variation in plants. Our knowledge of this process is, however, limited to indirect assessments of evolutionary changes. Here, we employ experimental evolution with fast cycling Brassica rapa plants to demonstrate adaptive evolution driven by different pollinators. Our study shows pollinator-driven divergent selection as well as divergent evolution in plant traits. Plants pollinated by bumblebees evolved taller size and more fragrant flowers with increased ultraviolet reflection. Bumblebees preferred bumblebee-pollinated plants over hoverfly-pollinated plants at the end of the experiment, showing that plants had adapted to the bumblebees’ preferences. Plants with hoverfly pollination became shorter, had reduced emission of some floral volatiles, but increased fitness through augmented autonomous self-pollination. Our study demonstrates that changes in pollinator communities can have rapid consequences on the evolution of plant traits and mating system.
Highlights
Pollinator-driven diversification is thought to be a major source of floral variation in plants
Because many plants are dependent on pollinators for sexual reproduction, pollinators can cause selection and adaptive evolution in traits that maximize their attraction and subsequent pollen delivery[3,4], but this process is difficult to study in nature[24]
Our experiment documents the sole effect of pollinators on adaptive evolution, because all other ecological factors were held constant, and plants derived from the same starting population
Summary
Pollinator-driven diversification is thought to be a major source of floral variation in plants Our knowledge of this process is, limited to indirect assessments of evolutionary changes. Many studies have documented selection on floral traits in natural plant populations, they are usually limited in their inference of the mechanism causing a given pattern of selection This is so because pollinators, and herbivores, pathogens and abiotic factors impose selection on flowers[12,16,17]. Studies that document established floral trait differences among plant populations (ecotypes) or species face similar problems in identifying the primary cause for the evolution of such variation, because floral diversification is often linked to shifts in more than one ecological factor, for example in both habitat-type and pollinators[21,22,23]. Our proof-of-concept study is relevant within the context of pollinator-driven diversification, and to alert us to possible evolutionary consequences of current changes in pollinator communities, including pollinator decline or loss of groups of pollinators[26,27]
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