Abstract:
Animal pollinators have driven the diversification of plants on the earth for more than 100
million years. The mutualism between plants and their pollinators rests on an exchange: food
for pollinators and efficient vectoring of sexual reproduction for plants. This relationship has
been shaped by many factors during the course of evolution. Competition between pollinators
for access to nectar and pollen, and among flowering plants for the attention of pollinators,
has influenced the shape, colour, and scent of flowers and the extent to which plants invest in
the production of pollen and nectar. While many pollinators are ‘generalists’ and visit a
variety of flowering plants to obtain food, close relationships between specific pollinators and
plant species have developed throughout the course of evolutionary history. An important
issue today, given the widespread concern about wild and managed pollinators, is
determining how human activities impact the varied relationships between plants and their
insect pollinators.
