A test of Sensory Drive in plant-pollinator interactions: heterogeneity in the signalling environment shapes pollinator preference for a floral visual signal

Sensory Drive predicts that habitat-dependent signal transmission and perception explain the diversification of communication signals. Whether Sensory Drive shapes floral evolution remains untested in nature. Pollinators of Argentina anserina prefer small ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing floral guides at low elevation but larger guides at high. However, mechanisms underlying differential preference are unclear. High elevation populations experience elevated UV irradiance and frequently flower against bare substrates rather than foliage, potentially impacting signal transmission and perception. At high and low elevation extremes, we experimentally tested the effects of UV light (ambient vs reduced) and floral backgrounds (foliage vs bare) on pollinator choice for UV guide size. We examined how different signalling environments shaped pollinator-perceived flower colour using visual system models. At high elevation, pollinators preferred locally common large UV guides under ambient UV, but lacked preference under reduced UV. Flies preferred large guides only against bare substrate, the common high elevation background. Ambient UV amplified contrast of large UV guides with floral backgrounds, and flowers contrasted more with bare ground than foliage. Results support that local signalling conditions contribute to pollinator preference for a floral visual signal, a key tenet of Sensory Drive. Components of Sensory Drive could shape floral signal evolution in other plants spanning heterogeneous signalling environments.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that pollinators at high elevations prefer large ultraviolet floral guides, while showing no clear preference under reduced ultraviolet light. Flies only preferred large guides on bare substrate. Additionally, the contrast between ambient UV light and floral backgrounds enhanced the visibility of the guides, with flowers contrasting more with bare ground than foliage.