James G. Rodger

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at Stellenbosch University

Specialisation enhances the efficiency of plant–pollinator networks through the exchange of conspecific pollen transfer for floral resources. Floral resources form the currency of plant–pollinator interactions, but the understanding of how floral resources affect the structure of plant–pollinator networks remains modest. Previous theory predicts th...

Despite evidence of pollinator declines from many regions across the globe, the threat this poses to plant populations is not clear because plants can often produce seeds without animal pollinators. Here, we quantify pollinator contribution to seed production by comparing fertility in the presence versus the absence of pollinators for a global data...

Community and invasion ecology have mostly grown independently. There is substantial overlap in the processes captured by different models in the two fields, and various frameworks have been developed to reduce this redundancy and synthesize information content. Despite broad recognition that community and invasion ecology are interconnected, a pro...

Land use change, by disrupting the co-evolved interactions between plants and their pollinators, could be causing plant reproduction to be limited by pollen supply. Using a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis on over 2200 experimental studies and more than 1200 wild plants, we ask if land use intensification is causing plant reproduction to b...

The role of pollination in the success of invasive plants needs to be understood because invasives have substantial effects on species interactions and ecosystem functions. Previous research has shown both that reproduction of invasive plants is often pollen limited and that invasive plants can have high seed production, motivating the questions: H...

J. H. Burns was omitted in error from the author list of the original version of this Data Descriptor. This omission has now been corrected in both the HTML and PDF versions.

Plant reproduction relies on transfer of pollen from anthers to stigmas, and the majority of flowering plants depend on biotic or abiotic agents for this transfer. A key metric for characterizing if pollen receipt is insufficient for reproduction is pollen limitation, which is assessed by pollen supplementation experiments. In a pollen supplementat...

Despite empirical evidence for a positive relationship between dispersal and self‐fertilisation (selfing), theoretical work predicts that these traits should always be negatively correlated, and the Good Coloniser Syndrome of high dispersal and selfing (Cf. Baker's Law) should not evolve. Critically, previous work assumes that adult density is spat...

Theoretical work predicts that dispersal and self-fertilisation (selfing) should always be negatively correlated and the Good Coloniser Syndrome (GCS) of high dispersal and selfing should not occur when both traits are free to evolve. This contradicts positive relationships between selfing and dispersal in empirical data. Critically, previous work...

Global synthesis indicates that limitation of plant fecundity by pollen receipt (pollen limitation) is positively related to regional plant diversity and is higher for self-incompatible than self-compatible species. While self-incompatible species are always dependent on pollinating agents, self-compatible species may be pollinator-dependent or aut...

Herbarium accession data offer a useful historical botanical perspective and have been used to track the spread of plant invasions through time and space. Nevertheless, few studies have utilised this resource for genetic analysis to reconstruct a more complete picture of historical invasion dynamics, including the occurrence of separate introductio...

Dispersal and breeding system traits are thought to affect colonization success. As species have attained their present distribution ranges through colonization, these traits may vary geographically. Although several theories predict associations between dispersal ability, selfing ability and the relative position of a population within its geograp...

The ability to self-fertilise may promote invasiveness in plants by assuring reproductionwhen mate and pollinator availabilities are inadequate, provided that the benefit of increased fecundity via selfing is not outweighed by inbreeding depression. However, knowledge of breeding systems and inbreeding depression has been lacking for most introduce...

Ability to self‐fertilize is correlated with invasiveness in several introduced floras, and this has been attributed to its mitigating effect on fecundity when pollinator visitation and mate availability are inadequate. Cross‐pollination opportunities are expected to be most limited in isolated individuals and small populations, both typical of the...

Aim Reproductive traits are important mediators of establishment and spread of introduced species, both directly and through interactions with other life-history traits and extrinsic factors. We identify features of the reproductive biology of Australian acacias associated with invasiveness. Location Global. Methods We reviewed the pollination biol...

Generalized pollination systems and autonomous self-fertilization are traits that have been linked with plant invasiveness. However, whether specialized pollination requirements pose a significant barrier to plant invasions is not yet clear. Likewise, the contribution of pollinators to the fecundity of facultatively self-pollinating invasive plant...

The literature on African pollination biology is reviewed. It is found that relatively little work has been done on pollination biology in Africa, and a very small proportion of pollination relationships has so far been studied. Much of the research which has been done is of an evolutionary nature. Very little work has been conducted at the communi...

This study investigated pattern in the distribution of the alien invasive shrub, Lantana camara L., in communal versus conservation land-use in a lowveld savanna. Pattern was investigated relative to land-use type, and sub- or inter-canopy micro-sites. Lantana was significantly more prevalent on communal lands than in the conservation area, and in...