Plants are sessile organisms that face selection by both herbivores and pollinators. Herbivores and pollinators may select on the same traits and/or mediate each other’s effects. Erysimum capitatum (Brassicaceae) is a widespread and variable plant species with generalized pollination that is attacked by a number of herbivores. The following questions were addressed. (a) Are pollinators and herbivores attracted by similar plant traits? (b) Does herbivory affect pollinator preferences? (c) Do pollinators and/or herbivores affect fitness and select on plant traits? (d) Do plant compensatory responses affect the outcome of interactions among plants, pollinators and herbivores? (e) Do interactions among E. capitatum and its pollinators and herbivores differ among sites and years? In 2005 and 2006, observational and experimental studies were combined in four populations at different elevations to examine selection by pollinators and herbivores on floral traits of E. capitatum. Pollinator and herbivore assemblages varied spatially and temporally, as did their effects on plant fitness and selection. Both pollinators and herbivores preferred plants with more flowers, and herbivory some-times reduced pollinator visitation. Pollinators did not select on plant traits in any year or population and E. capitatum was not pollen limited; however, supplemental pollen resulted in altered plant resource allocation. Herbivores reduced fitness and selected for plant traits in some populations, and these effects were mediated by plant compensatory responses. Individuals of Erysimum capitatum are visited by diverse groups of pollinators and herbivores that shift in abundance and importance in time and space. Compensatory reproductive mechanisms mediate inter-actions with both pollinators and herbivores and may allow E. capitatum to succeed in this complex selective environment.
The good, the bad and the flexible: Plant interactions with pollinators and herbivores over space and time are moderated by plant compensatory responses
Year: 2011
