{"id":1063,"date":"2026-08-17T11:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/?page_id=1063"},"modified":"2026-08-17T15:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:07:39","slug":"plant-pollinator-interactions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/plant-pollinator-interactions\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant\u2013pollinator interactions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Research area<\/p>\n

Plant\u2013pollinator interactions<\/h1>\n

Resolving the pollination paradox<\/h2>\n

We study how pollinator behavior, plant mate choice and forest degradation interact to shape reproduction, gene flow and resilience in tropical plant populations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Collaborative research:<\/strong> This work is conducted in collaboration with Matt Betts at Oregon State University<\/a> and Helene Wagner at the University of Toronto<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

\"Hummingbird
A hummingbird visits Heliconia<\/em>, transferring pollen as it moves among flowers. Photo: Ferne Kotlyar.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The central puzzle<\/p>\n

Why does local foraging produce long-distance mating?<\/h2>\n
\n

Pollinator strategy<\/p>

Move locally<\/h3>

Hummingbirds minimize energetic costs by visiting nearby flowers. This behavior should mostly transfer pollen among neighboring\u2014and often related\u2014plants.<\/p><\/div>\n

Plant outcome<\/p>

Mate at a distance<\/h3>

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.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n
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Study system<\/p>

Heliconia tortuosa<\/em> and hummingbirds<\/h2><\/div>\n

Heliconia tortuosa<\/em> 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\u2014yet plants in intact forests largely avoid mating with their nearest neighbors.<\/p>

In degraded forests, specialist traplining hummingbirds decline and this selectivity appears to weaken, increasing near-neighbor mating and inbreeding.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What the data show<\/h2>

Figures from Jones et al. (2022), Molecular Ecology<\/em>. View the publication<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Genetic<\/a>
Figure 1. Forest age changes plant genetic patterns.<\/strong> 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.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Effects<\/a>
Figure 2. Landscape context matters.<\/strong> 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.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Relationships<\/a>
Figure 3. Pollinator communities connect forest change to plant genetics.<\/strong> Long-distance traplining hummingbirds are more prominent in primary forest, and plant populations visited by a larger proportion of these pollinators show lower inbreeding.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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Field research<\/p>\n

The study system in motion<\/h2>\n
Plant\u2013pollinator field research. Video: Ferne Kotlyar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Palms
Complex tropical landscapes connect local pollinator movements with gene flow across plant populations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Why it matters<\/p>\n

Pollinator loss can reshape plant evolution<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Research overview<\/a><\/div>
Join the lab<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research area Plant\u2013pollinator 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. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3794,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-no-title","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1063","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3CtpG-h9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3794"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1063"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1160,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1063\/revisions\/1160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/joneslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}