Adaptive radiation in a tritrophic system: pollen resources, Andrena pollen foragers and Nomada cleptoparasites

• Applicant: Dr. Andreas Gumbert
• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi
• Term: from 2002 to 2005
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5362490

This project is aimed to analyse the adaptive radiation in a complex system over three trophic levels, consisting of angiosperm pollen food plants, bees of the genus Andrena that collect and provision their larvae with pollen and bees of the cleptoparasitic genus Nomada that feed on the pollen collected by Andrena hosts. In an interdisciplinary approach we will analyse co-radiation between both genera and their dependence on specific properties of their pollen food. Oligolecty and polylecty in Andrena as well as host specificity of Nomada will be analysed with respect to metabolophysiological adaptations for the consumption of pollen that contains potentially toxic compounds. We will analyse Andrena morphological adaptations in pollen collection and transport structures, as well as sensory-physiological adaptations linked to the detection of pollen food plants in pollen specialists and generalists. These adaptations will be viewed in a phylogenetic context in order to reconstruct the direction of evolution of these characters and to identify key innovations leading to extensive adaptive radiation. Furthermore, we will test if pollen specialisation has an impact on predation by cleptoparasites. Using this model system we analyse how the diversity in feeding behaviours, which is believed to maintain and enrich species diversity, has evolutionarily been developed in bees. In particular, we investigat how co-radiation has been developed between dependent organisms in a specialised predator-prey system in which the predator does not feed on the prey but on its food.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1127: Radiations - Origins of Biological Diversity
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Klaus Lunau