Are flower and fruit colors associated with environment? Exploring global ecogeogeographic patterns in flower and fruit colors
- Author(s)
- Agnes Dellinger, Leah Meier, Stacey D. Smith, Miranda Sinott-Armstrong
- Abstract
Flowers and fruits are central to plant reproduction because they facilitate gene dispersal through pollen or seeds, respectively. In species engaging in biotic interactions during reproduction (i.e., with pollinators and dispersers), flower and fruit coloration are important as visually attractive cues. Different groups of pollinators (i.e., bees, birds, bats) and dispersers (i.e., birds, monkeys, lizards) differ in their sensory abilities, which might drive color evolution in flowers and fruits. The abiotic environment may also be an important selective factor on coloration. For instance, the synthesis of anthocyanin pigments (most reds, pinks, and blacks) is triggered by cold temperatures and UV-B radiation. Although flowers and fruits originate from the same organ and constitute a continuous developmental sequence, we currently lack understanding of whether flower and fruit traits are correlated in space. If flower and fruit colors show similar spatial patterns, those patterns may be influenced strongly by similar abiotic factors. If, however, flower and fruit color are decoupled, then they likely result from different selective agents (either abiotic or biotic). To address this gap, we collated a dataset of 2800+ species from 51 clades with animal-pollinated flowers and animal-dispersed fruits and scored flower and fruit colors into eight categories. We combined the color data with GBIF occurrence records for these species and found striking differences in the geographic distribution of flower and fruit colors. Overall, fruit color diversity is higher in the tropics, but flower olor diversity is not. Red and pink in both flowers and fruits are more prevalent at high northern atitudes, which suggests that a common selective agent may drive the evolution of red/pink under hose environmental conditions. Aside from red/pink, flower and fruit colors and color diversity are decoupled across the globe, indicating different importance of abiotic and biotic selective agents.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research
- External organisation(s)
- University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Cambridge
- Pages
- 24
- Publication date
- 2024
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106008 Botany, 106042 Systematic botany, 106012 Evolutionary research
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/5f774ab2-fb83-4c77-94eb-1e1fd11cdcbc