Pollinator specialization: from the individual to the community

Abstract

Most spermatophytes need conspecific pollen in order to produce seed. This need for specialization seems to conflict with the generalized nature of most plant–pollinator interactions. Specialization and generalization are dynamic – not fixed – and exist simultaneously in multiple states at different levels of biological hierarchy. Over the short term, specialization ensures conspecific pollen transfer, whereas over the long term, generalization improves system-level robustness. The balance between specialization and generalization at different scales is critical for different kinds of ecological functioning and is an important factor in plant speciation and the evolution of plant mating systems. Community context, including diversity and interaction network structure at different levels of aggregation, is a key driver of specialization dynamics.