Review of the Pollination System by Small Diverse Insects
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INSECT POLLINATORS
Review of the Pollination System by Small Diverse Insects MM MOREIRA1,2 , L FREITAS2 1
Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Univ Federal do Espírito Santo, Alegre, ES, Brazil Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2
Keywords Ecological interactions, generalization, mutualism, tropical rainforest Correspondence M.M. Moreira, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Univ Federal do Espírito Santo, Alegre, ES, Brazil; [email protected] Edited by Carmen S S Pires – Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia Received 22 July 2019 and accepted 15 April 2020 * Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil 2020
Abstract Many studies have evaluated and categorized the pollination systems of plants in different regions. These studies resulted in the definition of new pollination systems, such as that by small diverse insects (SDI). Although SDI systems are frequent in tropical communities, we know little about the species of plants and pollinators that compose these systems. This study synthesized knowledge of SDI systems through a systematic review of the literature, in order to characterize the composition of plants and pollinator species related to this pollination system. Most studies of SDI systems were carried out in tropical rainforest communities, and used a variety of terminologies and concepts. We found 362 plant species assigned to the SDI system, distributed in 76 families and 35 orders. These species are mainly trees and have inconspicuous greenish flowers, and most are hermaphroditic or dioecious. Few studies provided information on the composition of pollinators, which encompassed small and large insects; beetles, wasp, flies, and bees were the most frequent groups. We suggest adoption of the term “pollination system by diverse insects” instead of “small diverse insects.” We discuss conceptual aspects and questions for studies with this pollination system.
Introduction Interest in plant-pollinator interactions from a community standpoint has led to numerous studies evaluating the pollination systems of plants in different regions (Kevan 1972, Bawa et al 1985b, Momose et al 1998). These studies determined the pollination systems indirectly, through the floral traits (e.g., color, shape, odor, and resources) associated with the main functional group of pollinators (i.e., pollination syndromes; Faegri & van der Pijl 1979, Fenster et al 2004), or directly, through focal observations of floral visitors (Momose et al 1998, Machado & Lopes 2004, Wardhaugh 2015). Thus, several pollination systems have been proposed in different communities. The high species richness in tropical communities, together with a greater dependence on biotic pollination (Ollerton et al 2011, Rech et al 2016), has led to a wide diversity of pollination systems (see table in Wardhaugh 2015). For these communities, pollination systems not covered by the work of
Faegri and van der Pijl (1979) have been described, associated with a single group of pollinators or involving different groups, such as squirrels, wasp, and flies,
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