Abstract
Abstract Abiotic factors are generally assumed to determine whether species can exist at the extreme ends of environmental gradients, for example, at high elevations, whereas the role of biotic interactions is less clear. On temperate mountains, insect‐pollinated plant species with bilaterally symmetrical flowers exhibit a parallel elevational decline in species richness and abundance with bees. This suggests that the lack of mutualistic interaction partners sets the elevational range limits of plants via a reduction in reproductive success. We used the bee‐pollinated mountain plant Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae), which blooms along a continuous 1000‐m elevational gradient and has bilaterally symmetrical flowers, as a model to test the predicted parallel elevational decline in flower visitation and seed production. Although the community of flower visitors changed with elevation, the flower visitation rate by the most frequent visitors, bumble bees (33.8% of legitimate visits), and the overall rate of flower visitation by potential pollinators did not vary significantly with elevation. However, we discovered that nectar robbing by bumble bees and nectar theft by ants, two interactions with potentially negative effects on flowers, sharply increased with elevation. Seed set depended on pollinators across elevations and followed a weak hump‐shaped pattern, peaking at mid‐elevations and decreasing by about 20% toward both elevational range edges. Considering the mid‐ and high elevations, elevational variation in seed production could not be explained by legitimate bee visitation rates but was inversely correlated with the frequency of nectar robbing. Our observations challenge the hypothesis that a decrease in the availability of pollinators limits seed production of bee‐flowered plants at high elevations but suggest that an increase in negative interactions (nectar robbing and larceny) constrains reproductive success.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Flower visitor community composition changed with elevation.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinum
Clinopodium alpinume1 - Treatment
- elevatione0
- Outcome
- community of flower visitorse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Although the community of flower visitors changed with elevation”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Bumble bee visitation did not vary significantly with elevation; these bees accounted for 33.8% of legitimate visits.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Treatment
- elevatione0
- Outcome
- flower visitation ratee0
- Direction
- did not vary significantlye0
- Value
- 33.8%e0
BombusOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the flower visitation rate by the most frequent visitors, bumble bees (33.8% of legitimate visits), and the overall rate of flower visitation by potential pollinators did not vary significantly with elevation.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Overall potential-pollinator visitation did not vary significantly with elevation.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Treatment
- elevatione0
- Interactor
- potential pollinatorse0pollinator
- Outcome
- overall rate of flower visitatione0
- Direction
- did not vary significantlye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the overall rate of flower visitation by potential pollinators did not vary significantly with elevation.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Nectar robbing by bumble bees increased sharply with elevation.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Treatment
- elevatione0
- Outcome
- nectar robbinge0
- Direction
- increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“nectar robbing by bumble bees and nectar theft by ants, two interactions with potentially negative effects on flowers, sharply increased with elevation.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Nectar theft by ants increased sharply with elevation.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Treatment
- elevatione0
- Interactor
- antsFormicidaee0other
- Outcome
- nectar thefte0
- Direction
- increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“nectar robbing by bumble bees and nectar theft by ants, two interactions with potentially negative effects on flowers, sharply increased with elevation.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed set depended on pollinators throughout the elevational gradient.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Interactor
- pollinatorse0pollinator
- Outcome
- Seed sete0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seed set depended on pollinators across elevations”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed set peaked at mid-elevations and decreased about 20% at both range edges.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Treatment
- elevational range edgese0
- Outcome
- Seed sete0
- Direction
- decreasinge0
- Value
- about 20%e0
- Comparator
- mid‐elevationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seed set depended on pollinators across elevations and followed a weak hump‐shaped pattern, peaking at mid‐elevations and decreasing by about 20% toward both elevational range edges.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
At mid and high elevations legitimate bee visitation did not explain variation in seed production.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Treatment
- legitimate bee visitation ratese0
- Outcome
- variation in seed productione0
- Qualifier
- mid‐ and high elevationse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Considering the mid‐ and high elevations, elevational variation in seed production could not be explained by legitimate bee visitation rates but was inversely correlated with the frequency of nectar robbing.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
At mid and high elevations seed production was inversely correlated with nectar robbing frequency.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Treatment
- frequency of nectar robbinge0
- Outcome
- seed productione0
- Direction
- inversely correlatede0
- Qualifier
- mid‐ and high elevationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Considering the mid‐ and high elevations, elevational variation in seed production could not be explained by legitimate bee visitation rates but was inversely correlated with the frequency of nectar robbing.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors interpret increasing nectar robbing and larceny as constraining reproductive success at high elevations.
- Taxon
- Clinopodium alpinumClinopodium alpinume1
- Outcome
- reproductive successe0
- Qualifier
- increase in negative interactions (nectar robbing and larceny)e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“suggest that an increase in negative interactions (nectar robbing and larceny) constrains reproductive success.”
e1“Clinopodium alpinum (Lamiaceae)”