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Co-Evolution at the Plant-Animal Interface

Ficus sp. (Moraceae) fruit cut in half showing fig-wasp larvae centrally and a small fig-wasp at the edge. Photo: P. Gasson.

The diversification of plants is often intimately linked to their interactions with animals. We are studying several models of plant-animal interactions, especially plant-pollinator relationships but not exclusively (e.g. grass-herbivores co-evolution, bird dispersal and global patterns of plant distribution, etc.). In the case of pollination, we aim at building comprehensive phylogenetic hypotheses for both partners and use comparative analyses to help characterise the role that animals have played in driving plant speciation, e.g. in biodiversity hotspots. In some extreme cases of co-evolution, i.e. figs and their pollinating wasps, we have built one of the most comprehensive phylogenetic trees for figs and showed that they have co-radiated with wasps in the last 60 millions years; this extraordinary mutualism is still under investigation. In Lamiales and Iridaceae, several genera that might have extensively shifted pollinators (e.g. within Lamiaceae and Gesneriaceae, Moraea, etc.) are also the focus of phylogenetic analyses so that these ‘adaptive radiations’ can be better understood. In other examples, we have used models of insect vision to study how orchids mimic sympatric plants in neotropical communities and how specific mimicry can affect speciation. As part of a CASE BBSRC studentship, a global database of floral reflectance measures will be compiled and made available via the web; these data will also help better understand plant-pollinator relationships via visual clues.

This project benefits from a grant from the European Commission (fig-wasp coevolution; 2005-2007) and a CASE BBSRC studentship.  Other grants (e.g. Enterprise Ireland; grass-herbivores co-evolution) and core-funding are also being used for some components of the long-term project. Main project outputs are high-profile publications that help synthesise the various aspects of plant-animal interactions.

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