Research area

Plant–pollinator interactions

Resolving the pollination paradox

We study how pollinator behavior, plant mate choice and forest degradation interact to shape reproduction, gene flow and resilience in tropical plant populations.

Collaborative research: This work is conducted in collaboration with Matt Betts at Oregon State University and Helene Wagner at the University of Toronto.

A hummingbird visits Heliconia, transferring pollen as it moves among flowers. Photo: Ferne Kotlyar.

The central puzzle

Why does local foraging produce long-distance mating?

Pollinator strategy

Move locally

Hummingbirds minimize energetic costs by visiting nearby flowers. This behavior should mostly transfer pollen among neighboring—and often related—plants.

Plant outcome

Mate at a distance

Genetic evidence shows that long-distance pollen movement and mating can be common. Plants appear to favor rare, distant and less-related pollen through mechanisms we are working to identify.

Study system

Heliconia tortuosa and hummingbirds

Heliconia tortuosa is a keystone understory plant visited by a diverse hummingbird community. More than 17 years of observations show that both specialist trapliners and territorial hummingbirds often visit nearby flowers—yet plants in intact forests largely avoid mating with their nearest neighbors.

In degraded forests, specialist traplining hummingbirds decline and this selectivity appears to weaken, increasing near-neighbor mating and inbreeding.

What the data show

Figures from Jones et al. (2022), Molecular Ecology. View the publication.

Genetic diversity and inbreeding in Heliconia tortuosa adults and juveniles from primary and secondary forests — **Figure 1. Forest age changes plant genetic patterns.** Secondary forests contain more effective alleles, yet both adult and juvenile plants show substantially greater inbreeding than plants in primary forest. Genetic diversity and mating quality can therefore respond differently during forest recovery.

Effects of surrounding primary forest on heterozygosity and inbreeding in Heliconia tortuosa — **Figure 2. Landscape context matters.** Plant populations surrounded by more primary forest retain greater observed heterozygosity and experience less inbreeding. What happens within a forest patch therefore depends partly on the habitat that surrounds it.

Relationships among forest characteristics, hummingbird pollinator communities, and plant inbreeding — **Figure 3. Pollinator communities connect forest change to plant genetics.** Long-distance traplining hummingbirds are more prominent in primary forest, and plant populations visited by a larger proportion of these pollinators show lower inbreeding.

Field research

The study system in motion

Plant–pollinator field research. Video: Ferne Kotlyar.

Complex tropical landscapes connect local pollinator movements with gene flow across plant populations.

Why it matters

Pollinator loss can reshape plant evolution

Understanding how forest degradation changes pollinator communities, mating systems and offspring fitness can improve tropical restoration strategies and help sustain genetic diversity in changing landscapes.

Research overview

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