Equalizing Effect of Pollinator Adaptive Foraging on Plant Network Coexistence

Abstract

The role of pollination in plant coexistence remains contested, with studies using Lotka-Volterra models suggesting pollination hinders while consumer-resource approaches indicating it can promote plant coexistence. Through the lens of modern coexistence theory, we analyze how network nestedness and pollinator foraging behavior influence plant coexistence via stabilizing (increasing the relative effect of intraspecific to interspecific competition) or equalizing (reducing fitness differences) mechanisms. Our findings reveal that while nestedness alone threatens specialist plant persistence, adaptive foraging by pollinators generates equalizing mechanisms by benefiting specialist over generalist plants which promotes plant coexistence, helping explain the contrasting conclusions from previous studies.