Birds Perceive More Intraspecific Color Variation in Bird-Pollinated Than Bee-Pollinated Flowers

Frontiers in Plant Science

Charles F. Williams³  Asher K. Smith⁴  Kenneth D. Whitney⁴  Thomas E. White⁵ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, United States;Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States;Ray J. Davis Herbarium, Idaho Museum of Natural History, Pocatello, ID, United States;Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO, United States;School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia;

关键词: plant–pollinator interactions;    signaling;    reflectance spectra;    bee vision;    avian vision;    natural selection;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpls.2020.590347

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Pollinator-mediated selection is expected to constrain floral color variation within plant populations. Here, we test for patterns of constraint on floral color variation in 38 bee- and/or hummingbird-pollinated plant species from Colorado, United States. We collected reflectance spectra for at least 15 individuals in each of 1–3 populations of each species (total 78 populations) and modeled perceived color variation in both bee and bird visual spaces. We hypothesized that bees would perceive less intraspecific color variation in bee-pollinated species (vs. bird-pollinated species), and reciprocally, birds would perceive less color variation in bird-pollinated species (vs. bee-pollinated species). In keeping with the higher dimensionality of the bird visual system, birds typically perceived much more color variation than bees, regardless of plant pollination system. Contrary to our hypothesis, bees perceived equal color variation within plant species from the two pollination systems, and birds perceived more color variation in species that they pollinate than in bee-pollinated species. We propose hypotheses to account for the results, including reduced long-wavelength sensitivity in bees (vs. birds), and the ideas that potential categorical color vision in birds and larger cognitive capacities of birds (vs. bees) reduces their potential discrimination against floral color variants in species that they pollinate, resulting in less stabilizing selection on color within bird-pollinated vs. bee-pollinated species.

【 授权许可】

Unknown