Animal pollinators directly affect plant gene flow by transferring pollen grains between individuals. Pollinators with restricted mobility are predicted to limit gene flow within and among populations, whereas pollinators that fly longer distances are likely to promote genetic cohesion. These predictions, however, remain poorly tested. We examined population genetic structure and fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) in six perennial understory angiosperms in Andean cloud forests of northwestern Ecuador. Species belong to three families (Gesneriaceae, Melastomataceae, and Rubiaceae), and within each family we paired one insect-pollinated with one hummingbird-pollinated species, predicting that insect-pollinated species have greater population differentiation (as quantified with the F_ST statistic) and stronger FSGS (as quantified with the S_P statistic) than hummingbird-pollinated species. We confirmed putative pollinators through a literature review and fieldwork, and inferred population genetic parameters with a genome-wide genotyping approach. In two of the three species pairs, insect-pollinated species had much greater (>2-fold) population-level genetic differentiation and correspondingly steeper declines in fine-scale genetic relatedness. In the Gesneriaceae pair, however, F_ST and S_P values were similar between species and to those of the other hummingbird-pollinated plants. In this pair, the insect pollinators are euglossine bees (as opposed to small bees and flies in the other pairs), which are thought to forage over large areas, and therefore may provide similar levels of gene flow as hummingbirds. Overall, our results shed light on how different animal pollination modes influence the spatial scale of plant gene flow, suggesting that small insects strongly decrease genetic cohesion.

中文翻译：

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传粉者类型强烈影响六种新热带物种植物种群内部和之间的基因流动

动物传粉者通过在个体之间转移花粉粒直接影响植物基因流动。预计流动性受限的传粉者会限制种群内和种群间的基因流动，而飞行距离较长的传粉者可能会促进遗传凝聚力。然而，这些预测仍然没有得到很好的检验。我们检查了厄瓜多尔西北部安第斯云雾林中六种多年生林下被子植物的种群遗传结构和精细尺度空间遗传结构 (FSGS)。物种属于三个科（苦苣苔科、野牡丹科和茜草科），在每个科中，我们将一种昆虫授粉的物种与一种蜂鸟授粉的物种配对，预测昆虫授粉的物种具有更大的种群分化（用F _ST量化）统计）和比蜂鸟授粉物种更强的 FSGS（用S _{P统计量化）。}我们通过文献回顾和实地考察确认了假定的传粉媒介，并使用全基因组基因分型方法推断了种群遗传参数。在三个物种对中的两个中，昆虫授粉的物种具有更大（> 2 倍）的种群水平遗传分化，相应地，精细遗传相关性的下降幅度也更大。然而，在苦苣苔科植物中，F _ST和S _P物种之间的值与其他蜂鸟授粉植物的值相似。在这对昆虫中，传粉昆虫是真舌蜜蜂（与其他对中的小蜜蜂和苍蝇相反），它们被认为可以在大片区域觅食，因此可能提供与蜂鸟相似水平的基因流。总的来说，我们的结果揭示了不同的动物授粉模式如何影响植物基因流的空间尺度，表明小昆虫会强烈降低遗传凝聚力。