Does the abiotic environment influence the distribution of flower and fruit colors?

Autor(en)

Agnes S. Dellinger, Leah Meier, Stacey D. Smith, Miranda Sinnott-Armstrong

Abstrakt

Abstract Premise Color in flowers and fruits carries multiple functions, from attracting animal partners (pollinators, dispersers) to mitigating environmental stress (cold, drought, UV-B). With research historically focusing on biotic interactions as selective agents, however, it remains unclear whether abiotic stressors impact flower and fruit colors across large spatial scales and shape their global distribution. Moreover, although flowers and fruits are developmentally linked and exposed to the same macroclimatic conditions, whether they have similar (correlated) responses to environmental stress remains unknown. Methods Leveraging a data set of 2815 animal-pollinated and animal-dispersed species from 51 plant clades, we tested whether the diversity and distribution of flower and fruit colors (scored into eight categories) is shaped by temperature, aridity, and UV-B irradiance. Results Global diversity of flower and fruit colors was uncoupled, with flower color diversity generally lower than fruit color diversity and peaking in areas of high abiotic stress. Fruit color diversity peaked in tropical areas where the diversity of animal mutualists is highest. These distinct patterns were shaped by different responses of individual flower and fruit colors to abiotic stressors (for flowers, pink and red to cold temperatures, yellow and purple to UV-B irradiance; for fruits, red to cold and wet conditions, black to warm, and yellow, green, and orange to UV-B). Conclusions Our results challenge the paradigm that flower and fruit colors are primarily shaped by animal partners but instead indicate that abiotic factors may set the macroecological stage for color evolution, with different selective factors acting on flowers and fruits.

Organisation(en)

Department für Botanik und Biodiversitätsforschung

Externe Organisation(en)

University of Colorado, Boulder

Journal

American journal of botany

Band

113

Anzahl der Seiten

15

ISSN

0002-9122

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.70044

Publikationsdatum

2026

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

106008 Botanik, 106042 Systematische Botanik, 106012 Evolutionsforschung

Schlagwörter

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/5c5da369-2338-4c1b-9ce7-d79a12f64172