Reproductive character displacement allows two sexually deceptive orchids to coexist and attract the same specific pollinator

An increased divergence in characters between species in secondary contact can be shaped by selection against competition for a common resource (ecological character displacement, ECD) or against maladapted hybridization (reproductive character displacement, RCD). These selective pressures can act b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evolutionary ecology 2022-04, Vol.36 (2), p.217-232
Main Authors: Cozzolino, Salvatore, Scopece, Giovanni, Cortis, Pierluigi, Barone Lumaga, Maria Rosaria, Cafasso, Donata, Ayasse, Manfred
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Ecology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Character displacement
Displacement
Divergence
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Fertility
Hybridization
Hybrids
Life Sciences
Offspring
Original Paper
Plant reproduction
Plant Sciences
Pollination
Pollinators
Speciation
Species
Sympatric populations
Sympatry
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Summary:An increased divergence in characters between species in secondary contact can be shaped by selection against competition for a common resource (ecological character displacement, ECD) or against maladapted hybridization (reproductive character displacement, RCD). These selective pressures can act between incipient species (reinforcement) or well-separated species that already completed the speciation process, but that can still hybridize and produce maladapted hybrids. Here, we investigated two well-separated sexually deceptive orchid species that, unusually, share their specific pollinator. Sympatric individuals of these species are more divergent than allopatric ones in floral characters involved in a mechanical isolating barrier, a pattern suggestive of RCD. To experimentally test this scenario, we built an artificial sympatric population with allopatric individuals. We measured flower characters, genotyped the offspring in natural and artificial sympatry and estimated fertility of hybrids. Different from naturally sympatric individuals, allopatric individuals in artificial sympatry hybridized widely. Hybrids showed lower pollination success and seed viability than parentals. Character displacement did not affect plant pollination success. These findings suggest that RCD evolved between these species to avoid hybridization and that selection on reinforcement may be very strong even in plants with highly specialized pollination.
ISSN:0269-7653
1573-8477
DOI:10.1007/s10682-021-10149-2