Title
Plant attractants: integrating insights from pollination and seed dispersal ecology
Date Issued
01 April 2017
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
University of Ulm
Publisher(s)
Springer International Publishing
Abstract
Reproduction in many angiosperms depends on attracting animals that provide pollination and seed dispersal services. Flowers and fleshy fruits present various features that can attract animal mutualists through visual, olfactory, acoustic, and tactile cues and signals, and some of these traits may result from selection exerted by pollinators and seed dispersers. Plant attractants can provide information regarding the presence, location, and quality of the reward. However, because of the different functional outcomes of pollination and seed dispersal, pollination systems are thought to be more highly specialized than seed dispersal systems. Despite these interesting parallels and contrasts, theoretical and empirical insights in the sensory ecology of pollination and seed dispersal are rarely considered together. Here, we review extant theory and data of sensory attractants from both pollination and seed dispersal systems. We discuss theoretical and empirical similarities and differences between pollination and seed dispersal and offer suggestions for ways in which insights from each field may benefit the other in future.
Start page
249
End page
267
Volume
31
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias de las plantas, Botánica
EcologÃa
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84992389087
Source
Evolutionary Ecology
ISSN of the container
02697653
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción CientÃfica
Scopus