
doi: 10.1111/plb.13248
pmid: 33655638
Abstract One of the greatest challenges in ecology is to understand and predict the functional outcome of interaction networks. Size‐matching between plants and pollinators is one of the key functional traits expected to play a major role in structuring plant–pollinator interactions. However, the community‐wide patterns of size‐matching remain largely unexplored. We studied the association between the degree of size‐matching and foraging efficiency, pollination efficiency and the probability of pairwise interactions in a community of Lamiaceae. Our study revealed that foraging efficiency is maximal when bee proboscis length corresponds to the corolla tube depth of the flower visited. Pollination efficiency was maximal when the bee body height corresponds to the corolla width of the flower visited. While the degree of size‐matching did not influence the probability of interaction, it significantly influenced the strength of the interaction in terms of visitation frequency. We suggest a size‐matching index as a reliable metric to predict the frequency of interactions as well as the effectiveness of visits in terms of foraging efficiency and pollination efficiency.
Phenotype, Animals, Flowers, Bees, Plants, Pollination
Phenotype, Animals, Flowers, Bees, Plants, Pollination
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 24 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
