Skip to main content
Journal cover image

When can two plant species facilitate each other's pollination?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Feldman, TS; Morris, WF; Wilson, WG
Published in: Oikos
April 1, 2004

Facilitation occurs when an increase in the density of one species causes an increase in the population growth rate or the density of a second species. In plants, ample evidence demonstrates that one species can facilitate another by ameliorating abiotic conditions, but the hypothesis that pollination facilitation - in which the presence of one flowering species increases pollinator visits to a second species - can also occur remains controversial. To identify the necessary conditions for pollination facilitation to occur, we constructed population models of two plant species that share the same pollinator and compete for establishment sites, and we assumed that heterospecific pollen can interfere with successful seed set. We found that facilitation for pollination occurs only when the pollinator visitation rate is an initially accelerating function of the combined numbers of flowering plants of both species in a patch. The presence of a second species can allow populations of a focal species either to persist for a longer amount of time before going extinct ("weak facilitation") or to persist indefinitely at a stable equilibrium density ("strong facilitation"). When only a single plant of either species can occupy a site, the plant species with the higher initial density can experience strong facilitation but will eventually out-compete the other species. However, when site occupancy was not exclusive, strong facilitation sometimes led to coexistence of the two species. Increasing the extent of pollen carryover increased the range of initial population densities leading to strong facilitation. In light of our theoretical results, we discuss the apparent rarity of pollination facilitation in nature.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Oikos

DOI

ISSN

0030-1299

Publication Date

April 1, 2004

Volume

105

Issue

1

Start / End Page

197 / 207

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3104 Evolutionary biology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0602 Ecology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Feldman, T. S., Morris, W. F., & Wilson, W. G. (2004). When can two plant species facilitate each other's pollination? Oikos, 105(1), 197–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12845.x
Feldman, T. S., W. F. Morris, and W. G. Wilson. “When can two plant species facilitate each other's pollination?Oikos 105, no. 1 (April 1, 2004): 197–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12845.x.
Feldman TS, Morris WF, Wilson WG. When can two plant species facilitate each other's pollination? Oikos. 2004 Apr 1;105(1):197–207.
Feldman, T. S., et al. “When can two plant species facilitate each other's pollination?Oikos, vol. 105, no. 1, Apr. 2004, pp. 197–207. Scopus, doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12845.x.
Feldman TS, Morris WF, Wilson WG. When can two plant species facilitate each other's pollination? Oikos. 2004 Apr 1;105(1):197–207.
Journal cover image

Published In

Oikos

DOI

ISSN

0030-1299

Publication Date

April 1, 2004

Volume

105

Issue

1

Start / End Page

197 / 207

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3104 Evolutionary biology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0602 Ecology