The outcome of shared pollination services is affected by the density and spatial pattern of an attractive neighbour

Interactions among neighbouring plants are often mediated by foraging choices of pollinators. For example, the presence of a conspicuous species may increase the number of pollinators attracted to its vicinity, indirectly increasing visitation rates also to neighbouring plants. Because pollinator choices are frequently density dependent, the presence of a conspicuous species at high densities may also increase competition for pollination services. Additionally, models predict that plant density will interact with spatial distribution in manipulating the pollinator behaviour, yet experimental evidence for this effect is missing. We performed a field experiment in which we introduced a highly conspicuous species in different densities and spatial configurations in a full-factorial manner into a species-rich meadow and studied its effect on neighbouring plants. We showed that the highly conspicuous species strongly contributed to the attractiveness of its local patch and thus benefited its...邻体植物间的相互作用通常由传粉者的觅食选择所介导。例如，某一醒目物种的存在可提升被吸引至其周边区域的传粉者数量，间接提高邻体植物的访花率。由于传粉者的选择行为通常具有密度依赖性，高密度下醒目物种的存在也可能加剧传粉服务的竞争。此外，模型预测植物密度与空间分布在调控传粉者行为时会产生交互效应，但目前尚缺乏该效应的实验证据。我们在物种丰富的草甸中开展了一项野外实验，以全因子实验设计设置不同密度、不同空间配置的高醒目度物种引入处理，并探究其对邻体植物的影响。研究结果表明，该高醒目度物种显著提升了其所在局域斑块的吸引力，进而使其受益于……