Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Evolution. 2020 Aug;74(8):1874-1876. doi: 10.1111/evo.14055. Epub 2020 Jul 19.
How do emergent properties of natural plant communities affect floral evolution? In this issue, Eisen et al. explored this question by studying selection on floral traits in natural communities of Clarkia species. They found that two community properties, namely congeneric species richness and floral density (of conspecifics and heterospecifics), influenced the patterns of selection, although not through the expected means of pollinator-mediated selection. Instead, the authors suggest that additional factors like competition and facilitation between plants are responsible. The results support the hypothesis that, beside pollinators, other factors of the community context can also determine floral evolution.
自然植物群落的涌现特性如何影响花卉进化？在本期杂志中，Eisen 等人通过研究自然状态下的加利福尼亚琉璃苣属植物种间的花部特征选择，探讨了这个问题。他们发现，两个群落特性，即同属物种丰富度和花部密度（同种和异种种间的），影响了选择模式，尽管不是通过传粉媒介选择的预期方式。相反，作者提出，植物之间的竞争和促进等其他因素可能是造成这种情况的原因。研究结果支持了这样一种假设，即除了传粉者之外，群落环境中的其他因素也可以决定花部进化。
