Pollinator-mediated plant diversification: integrating pattern and process

我以叶总科植物和表翅蛾两种从事义务互惠关系的传粉者为模型，分析了传粉者在植物多样化过程中的作用。以新喀里多尼亚Phyllanthus的辐射为重点，我发现植物和飞蛾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。对于在Amami-Oshima岛上共存的四种Glochidion物种，主要的生殖隔离屏障是Epicephala传粉媒介的特异性，这表明物种特异性传粉媒介允许更多物种在一个地点共存。基于这些发现，我提出传粉者在促进植物多样化中的作用不是促进物种形成本身，而是通过允许更多物种在单一地点共同发生来增加承载能力。

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.