Synergistic natural selection from pollinators and the growth environment facilitates the ecological speciation of flowering plants

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K07228
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: TAKIMOTO Gaku 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 准教授 (90453852)
• Research Collaborator: KAGAWA Kotaro スイス水圏科学技術研究所
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 生態的種分化 / 被子植物 / 送粉共生系 / 定花性 / 無報酬花 / 適応放散

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Flowering plants (angiosperm) represent a major component of biodiversity on earth. Diversity of angiosperm has often been explained as the results of adaptation to a variety of growth environments or to a variety of pollinators (e.g., bee, butterfly, moth, and hummingbird). This prompted an expectation: synergistic action of natural selection from the growth environment and from pollinators may facilitate the diversification (speciation) of angiosperm. We examined this expectation and found that an important condition for this expectation is that plants that are better adapted to local growth conditions can attract pollinators better. This finding may be an important key for understanding the mechanisms that generate angiosperm diversity.

Free Research Field

理論生態学