Journal
AMERICAN NATURALIST
Volume 187, Issue 2, Pages 194-204Publisher
UNIV CHICAGO PRESS
DOI: 10.1086/684433
Keywords
food-deceptive flower; color polymorphism; individual-based model; negative frequency-dependent selection; disruptive selection; color discrimination
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Funding
- Japan Society for Promotion of Science (KAKENHI) [15K07228]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [15K07228] Funding Source: KAKEN
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Many plant species employing a food-deceptive pollination strategy show discrete or continuous floral polymorphism within their populations. Previous studies have suggested that negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) caused by the learning behavior of pollinators was responsible for the maintenance of floral polymorphism. However, NFDS alone does not explain why and when discrete or continuous polymorphism evolves. In this study, we use an evolutionary simulation model to propose that inaccurate discrimination of flower colors by pollinators results in evolution of discrete flower color polymorphism. Simulations showed that associative learning based on inaccurate discrimination in pollinators caused disruptive selection of flower colors. The degree of inaccuracy determined the number of discrete flower colors that evolved. Our results suggest that animal behavior based on inaccurate discriminationmay be a general cause of disruptive selection that promotes discrete trait polymorphism.
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