Javier Retana’s research while affiliated with Autonomous University of Barcelona and other places

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Publications (1)


FIG. 2. CCA biplot of pollinator groups and bands of the colour spectrum (coloured squares) corresponding to UV, blue, yellow and red (data from the four communities lumped together). Each dot represents a plant population and dot colours correspond to the flower colour categories shown in the legend (for example spectra of each category, see Table S1). BEE, bees; ANT, ants; WAS, wasps; DIP, dipterans; COL, coleopterans; LEP, lepidopterans.
Pollinators show flower colour preferences but flowers with similar colours do not attract similar pollinators
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June 2016

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2,811 Reads

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127 Citations

Annals of Botany

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Javier Retana

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José M Gómez

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Background and aims: Colour is one of the main floral traits used by pollinators to locate flowers. Although pollinators show innate colour preferences, the view that the colour of a flower may be considered an important predictor of its main pollinators is highly controversial because flower choice is highly context-dependent, and initial innate preferences may be overridden by subsequent associative learning. Our objective is to establish whether there is a relationship between flower colour and pollinator composition in natural communities. Methods: We measured the flower reflectance spectrum and pollinator composition in four plant communities (85 plant species represented by 109 populations, and 32 305 plant-pollinator interactions in total). Pollinators were divided into six taxonomic groups: bees, ants, wasps, coleopterans, dipterans and lepidopterans. Key results: We found consistent associations between pollinator groups and certain colours. These associations matched innate preferences experimentally established for several pollinators and predictions of the pollination syndrome theory. However, flowers with similar colours did not attract similar pollinator assemblages. Conclusions: The explanation for this paradoxical result is that most flower species are pollination generalists. We conclude that although pollinator colour preferences seem to condition plant-pollinator interactions, the selective force behind these preferences has not been strong enough to mediate the appearance and maintenance of tight colour-based plant-pollinator associations.

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Citations (1)


... Floral signalling involves a combination of cues, including colour (Reverté et al., 2016), design (Petrikin & Wells, 1995), blemish (Goulson et al., 2007), size (Inouye, 1980;Portlas et al., 2018), shape (Lehrer et al., 1995) and scent (Junker et al., 2010;Waller et al., 1973). ...

Reference:

Can strategic integration of cultivated pasture legumes into temperate agricultural systems provide stability to honey bee populations and associated industries?
Pollinators show flower colour preferences but flowers with similar colours do not attract similar pollinators

Annals of Botany