Pollination of Species with Non-specialized Actinomorphic Flowers vs Specialized Zygomorphic Flowers
Description
On the left, floral diagrams show the two main types of floral symmetry in angiosperms: actinomorphy (multiple axes of symmetry) and zygomorphy (a single axis of symmetry). Actinomorphic flowers attract a diversity of generalist pollinators that transfer pollen between flowers from different species. While zygomorphic flowers attract specialist pollinators that transfer pollen between conspecifics, leading to (on the right) greater efficiency of pollen transfer at low population abundances.
Acknowledgements
References
Alvestegui, M. B. (2021). Zygomorphic Flowers May Reduce Extinction Rates by Allowing Angiosperms to Occur in Low Abundances.
Yoder, J. B., Gomez, G., & Carlson, C. J. (2020). Zygomorphic flowers have fewer potential pollinator species. Biology letters, 16(9), 20200307.
Sargent, R. D. (2004). Floral symmetry affects speciation rates in angiosperms. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 271(1539), 603-608.
Giurfa, M., Dafni, A., & Neal, P. R. (1999). Floral symmetry and its role in plant-pollinator systems. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 160(S6), S41-S50.
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