Pollinator-mediated plant diversification: integrating pattern and process

本文以参与专性互惠共生的余甘子科植物和顶头蛾类传粉昆虫为模型，分析了传粉昆虫在植物多样化过程中的作用。通过对新喀里多尼亚叶下珠属植物的辐射研究，发现植物和蛾类的地理分布并不对应，说明传粉者不是植物物种形成的直接原因。对于共同发生在奄美大岛上的四种算盘子，主要的生殖隔离障碍是Epicephala传粉者的特异性，这表明物种特异性传粉者允许更多的物种共同发生在一个单一的位置。基于这些研究结果，我建议传粉者在促进植物多样化的作用是不是促进物种形成本身，而是通过允许更多的物种共同出现在一个单一的位置，以增加承载能力。

I analyzed the role of pollinators in the diversification process of plants, using Phyllanthaceae plants and Epicephala moth pollinators that are engaged in an obligate mutualism as model. Focusing on the radiation of New Caledonian Phyllanthus, I find that the geographic distribution of plants and moths do not correspond with each other, indicating that pollinators are not the direct cause of speciation in plants. For the four Glochidion species that co-occur on Amami-Oshima Island, the major reproductive isolation barrier is the specificity of Epicephala pollinators, suggesting that species-specific pollinators allow more species to co-occur in a single location. Based on these findings, I propose that the role of pollinators in promoting plant diversification is not to promote speciation itself but to increase the carrying capacity by allowing more species to co-occur in a single location.