The pollination syndrome hypothesis has been under debate over the past decades. It is criticized as an oversimplification of complex interactions: its validity varies across plant families and depends on spatio-temporal variability of plant–pollinator interactions, yet exact patterns are unclear. We tested the pollination syndrome predictability in a case study of a psychophilous Afrotropical herb species, Scadoxus cinnabarinus, along its complete elevational range (300–1200 m a.s.l.). Through 24-h camera recordings (totalling 500 observed hours), we observed pollinator communities of 21 plant specimens at three elevations on Mount Cameroon, West Africa. Pollination success was quantified through germinated pollen tubes in pistils of selected plants. As predicted by the syndrome, butterflies were the most frequent visitors. Unlike other visiting functional groups, they significantly contributed to the plant’s pollination. We found that the plant’s visitor composition had changed along its elevational range with proportionally more non-pollinating taxa visiting the flowers at both high and low elevations. Additionally, bees at the high elevation probably served as less-effective secondary pollinators, supplementing the lower abundance of butterfly visitors. Even though the psychophilous pollination syndrome correctly predicted the plant’s primary pollinators, its predictability was reduced close to the plant’s elevational limits. These geographic dynamics of specific plants’ pollination systems should be considered in any meta-analyses aiming to test the predictability of pollination syndromes. Especially because the data on pollination systems often originate from a single population.

中文翻译：

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喀麦隆山海拔上的金龟子（Amaryllidaceae）授粉媒介群落的变化

过去几十年来，关于传粉综合症假说一直在争论中。它被批评为过于复杂的相互作用：其有效性在植物科之间有所不同，并取决于植物与传粉者相互作用的时空变异性，但确切的模式尚不清楚。我们在一个嗜冷的非生草本植物金龟子（Scadoxus cinnabarinus）的案例研究中测试了授粉综合征的可预测性，沿其整个海拔范围（最高海拔300–1200 m）。通过24小时摄像机记录（总共观察了500小时），我们在西非喀麦隆山的三个海拔高度观察了21个植物标本的传粉媒介群落。授粉成功通过选定植物雌蕊中的发芽花粉管进行定量。正如该综合征所预测的那样，蝴蝶是最常来访的游客。与其他来访的职能小组不同，他们为植物的授粉做出了重要贡献。我们发现，植物的访客组成在其海拔范围内发生了变化，在高海拔和低海拔都按比例增加了更多的非授粉类群来访花。此外，高海拔的蜜蜂可能是次效传粉者，效果不佳，补充了蝴蝶游客数量较少的情况。即使精神病授粉综合症正确预测了植物的主要授粉媒介，但其可预测性却降低到接近植物的海拔极限。在旨在检验授粉综合症可预测性的任何荟萃分析中均应考虑特定植物授粉系统的这些地理动态。特别是因为有关授粉系统的数据通常来自单个种群。