What's interesting is that experts, generalists, in plants and pollinators

1 year ago
2.9K

What's interesting is that specialists and generalists across both plants and pollinators, sort themselves out in a particular pattern. Most pollinator networks, for which we have data, are nested. In a nested network, specialists tend to interact more with generalists than with other specialists. This is because if you're a specialist plant, and your only matchmaker also specializes on you as its only food source, you're each more vulnerable to extinction. So, you're better off specializing on a generalist pollinator that has other sources of food to ensure its persistence in bad years.

Loading comments...