Dataset Information

Hummingbird pollination and the diversification of angiosperms: an old and successful association in Gesneriaceae.

ABSTRACT: The effects of specific functional groups of pollinators in the diversification of angiosperms are still to be elucidated. We investigated whether the pollination shifts or the specific association with hummingbirds affected the diversification of a highly diverse angiosperm lineage in the Neotropics. We reconstructed a phylogeny of 583 species from the Gesneriaceae family and detected diversification shifts through time, inferred the timing and amount of transitions among pollinator functional groups, and tested the association between hummingbird pollination and speciation and extinction rates. We identified a high frequency of pollinator transitions, including reversals to insect pollination. Diversification rates of the group increased through time since 25 Ma, coinciding with the evolution of hummingbird-adapted flowers and the arrival of hummingbirds in South America. We showed that plants pollinated by hummingbirds have a twofold higher speciation rate compared with plants pollinated by insects, and that transitions among functional groups of pollinators had little impact on the diversification process. We demonstrated that floral specialization on hummingbirds for pollination has triggered rapid diversification in the Gesneriaceae family since the Early Miocene, and that it represents one of the oldest identified plant-hummingbird associations. Biotic drivers of plant diversification in the Neotropics could be more related to this specific type of pollinator (hummingbirds) than to shifts among different functional groups of pollinators.

SUBMITTER: Serrano-Serrano ML

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5394660 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Hummingbird pollination and the diversification of angiosperms: an old and successful association in Gesneriaceae.

Serrano-Serrano Martha Liliana ML Rolland Jonathan J Clark John L JL Salamin Nicolas N Perret Mathieu M

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20170401 1852

The effects of specific functional groups of pollinators in the diversification of angiosperms are still to be elucidated. We investigated whether the pollination shifts or the specific association with hummingbirds affected the diversification of a highly diverse angiosperm lineage in the Neotropics. We reconstructed a phylogeny of 583 species from the Gesneriaceae family and detected diversification shifts through time, inferred the timing and amount of transitions among pollinator functional ...[more]

PMID: 28381621

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Project description:A striking characteristic of the Western North American flora is the repeated evolution of hummingbird pollination from insect-pollinated ancestors. This pattern has received extensive attention as an opportunity to study repeated trait evolution as well as potential constraints on evolutionary reversibility, with little attention focused on the impact of these transitions on species diversification rates. Yet traits conferring adaptation to divergent pollinators potentially impact speciation and extinction rates, because pollinators facilitate plant reproduction and specify mating patterns between flowering plants. Here, we examine macroevolutionary processes affecting floral pollination syndrome diversity in the largest North American genus of flowering plants, Penstemon. Within Penstemon, transitions from ancestral bee-adapted flowers to hummingbird-adapted flowers have frequently occurred, although hummingbird-adapted species are rare overall within the genus. We inferred macroevolutionary transition and state-dependent diversification rates and found that transitions from ancestral bee-adapted flowers to hummingbird-adapted flowers are associated with reduced net diversification rate, a finding based on an estimated 17 origins of hummingbird pollination in our sample. Although this finding is congruent with hypotheses that hummingbird adaptation in North American Flora is associated with reduced species diversification rates, it contrasts with studies of neotropical plant families where hummingbird pollination has been associated with increased species diversification. We further used the estimated macroevolutionary rates to predict the expected pattern of floral diversity within Penstemon over time, assuming stable diversification and transition rates. Under these assumptions, we find that hummingbird-adapted species are expected to remain rare due to their reduced diversification rates. In fact, current floral diversity in the sampled Penstemon lineage, where less than one-fifth of species are hummingbird adapted, is consistent with predicted levels of diversity under stable macroevolutionary rates.

Dataset Information

Hummingbird pollination and the diversification of angiosperms: an old and successful association in Gesneriaceae.

Publications

Hummingbird pollination and the diversification of angiosperms: an old and successful association in Gesneriaceae.

Similar Datasets

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