Co-flowering species may have evolved strategies to avoid or tolerate the adverse effects of heterospecific pollen deposition.However,the precondition for this evolutionary response is spatialetemporal stability,an as...Co-flowering species may have evolved strategies to avoid or tolerate the adverse effects of heterospecific pollen deposition.However,the precondition for this evolutionary response is spatialetemporal stability,an aspect currently understudied.Here,we examined the spatialetemporal stability in conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads on stigmas across 19 co-flowering species in six sub-alpine meadow communities over four consecutive years.We found that,although conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads,as well as proportions of heterospecific pollen,differed significantly among species,with heterospecific pollen proportion ranging from 0.1%to 41.8%,variation in heterospecific pollen proportion among species was stable across different years and communities.The most important predictor of variation in both conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads,as well as heterospecific pollen proportions,was species identity;furthermore,this factor was independent of phylogenetic relationship.The proportion of heterospecific pollen varied less within species that had high proportions of heterospecific pollen.Furthermore,both the proportion of heterospecific pollen and its coefficient of variation were more strongly driven by heterospecific pollen than by conspecific pollen.Our study suggests that variation in stigmatic pollen load among co-flowering species is spatially and temporally consistent,a precondition for the tolerance-avoidance strategy.This study provides new insights into how different plant species respond to heterospecific pollen deposition.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.32071535 and 32371602)the Key Scientific Research Projects of College and University in Henan Province(No.24ZX001)the Henan Province Foundation for University Key Teacher(No.2020GGJS074).
文摘Co-flowering species may have evolved strategies to avoid or tolerate the adverse effects of heterospecific pollen deposition.However,the precondition for this evolutionary response is spatialetemporal stability,an aspect currently understudied.Here,we examined the spatialetemporal stability in conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads on stigmas across 19 co-flowering species in six sub-alpine meadow communities over four consecutive years.We found that,although conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads,as well as proportions of heterospecific pollen,differed significantly among species,with heterospecific pollen proportion ranging from 0.1%to 41.8%,variation in heterospecific pollen proportion among species was stable across different years and communities.The most important predictor of variation in both conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads,as well as heterospecific pollen proportions,was species identity;furthermore,this factor was independent of phylogenetic relationship.The proportion of heterospecific pollen varied less within species that had high proportions of heterospecific pollen.Furthermore,both the proportion of heterospecific pollen and its coefficient of variation were more strongly driven by heterospecific pollen than by conspecific pollen.Our study suggests that variation in stigmatic pollen load among co-flowering species is spatially and temporally consistent,a precondition for the tolerance-avoidance strategy.This study provides new insights into how different plant species respond to heterospecific pollen deposition.
