Thousands of plant species worldwide are dependent on birds for pollination. While the ecology and evolution of interactions between specialist nectarivorous birds and the plants they pollinate is relatively well understood, very little is known on pollination by generalist birds. The flower characters of this pollination syndrome are clearly defined but the geographical distribution patterns, habitat preferences and ecological factors driving the evolution of generalist‐bird‐pollinated plant species have never been analysed. Herein I provide an overview, compare the distribution of character states for plants growing on continents with those occurring on oceanic islands and discuss the environmental factors driving the evolution of both groups. The ecological niches of generalist‐bird‐pollinated plant species differ: on continents these plants mainly occur in habitats with pronounced climatic seasonality whereas on islands generalist‐bird‐pollinated plant species mainly occur in evergreen forests. Further, on continents generalist‐bird‐pollinated plant species are mostly shrubs and other large woody species producing numerous flowers with a self‐incompatible reproductive system, while on islands they are mostly small shrubs producing fewer flowers and are self‐compatible. This difference in character states indicates that diverging ecological factors are likely to have driven the evolution of these groups: on continents, plants that evolved generalist bird pollination escape from pollinator groups that tend to maintain self‐pollination by installing feeding territories in single flowering trees or shrubs, such as social bees or specialist nectarivorous birds. This pattern is more pronounced in the New compared to the Old World. By contrast, on islands, plants evolved generalist bird pollination as an adaptation to birds as a reliable pollinator group, a pattern previously known from plants pollinated by specialist nectarivorous birds in tropical mountain ranges. Additionally, I discuss the evolutionary origins of bird pollination systems in comparison to systems involving specialist nectarivorous birds and reconstruct the bird pollination system of Hawaii, which may represent an intermediate between a specialist and generalist bird pollination system. I also discuss the interesting case of Australia, where it is difficult to distinguish between specialist and generalist bird pollination systems.

中文翻译：

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全球大陆和岛屿之间具有通用鸟类授粉系统的植物生态和进化比较

全世界数以千计的植物物种依赖鸟类进行授粉。虽然专业食蜜鸟类与其授粉的植物之间相互作用的生态学和进化相对较好，但对通才鸟类的授粉知之甚少。这种授粉综合征的花卉特征已明确定义，但从未分析过驱动鸟类授粉植物物种进化的地理分布模式、栖息地偏好和生态因素。在此，我提供了一个概述，比较了生长在大陆和海洋岛屿上的植物的特征状态分布，并讨论了驱动这两个群体进化的环境因素。鸟类授粉植物物种的生态位不同：在大陆上，这些植物主要出现在气候季节性明显的栖息地，而在岛屿上，鸟类授粉的植物物种主要出现在常绿森林中。此外，在大陆上，鸟类授粉的植物物种主要是灌木和其他大型木本植物，它们产生大量具有自交不亲和生殖系统的花朵，而在岛屿上，它们主要是产生较少花朵且自交亲和的小灌木。特征状态的这种差异表明，不同的生态因素可能驱动了这些群体的进化：在大陆上，进化出通才鸟类授粉的植物逃避了通过在单株开花的树上安装取食区域来维持自花授粉的传粉群体。灌木，例如群居蜜蜂或专门的食蜜鸟类。与旧世界相比，这种模式在新世界更为明显。相比之下，在岛屿上，植物进化出通才鸟类授粉，以适应鸟类作为可靠的传粉群体，这种模式以前从热带山脉中由专门食蜜鸟类授粉的植物中得知。此外，我将鸟类授粉系统的进化起源与涉及专门食蜜鸟类的系统进行比较，并重建夏威夷的鸟类授粉系统，这可能代表了专家和通才鸟类授粉系统之间的中间体。我还讨论了澳大利亚的有趣案例，在那里很难区分专家和通才鸟类授粉系统。植物进化出通才鸟类授粉，以适应鸟类作为可靠的授粉群体，这种模式以前从热带山脉中由专业食蜜鸟类授粉的植物中得知。此外，我将鸟类授粉系统的进化起源与涉及专门食蜜鸟类的系统进行比较，并重建夏威夷的鸟类授粉系统，这可能代表了专家和通才鸟类授粉系统之间的中间体。我还讨论了澳大利亚的有趣案例，在那里很难区分专家和通才鸟类授粉系统。植物进化出通才鸟类授粉，以适应鸟类作为可靠的授粉群体，这种模式以前从热带山脉中由专业食蜜鸟类授粉的植物中得知。此外，我将鸟类授粉系统的进化起源与涉及专门食蜜鸟类的系统进行比较，并重建夏威夷的鸟类授粉系统，这可能代表了专家和通才鸟类授粉系统之间的中间体。我还讨论了澳大利亚的有趣案例，在那里很难区分专家和通才鸟类授粉系统。此外，我将鸟类授粉系统的进化起源与涉及专门食蜜鸟类的系统进行比较，并重建夏威夷的鸟类授粉系统，这可能代表了专家和通才鸟类授粉系统之间的中间体。我还讨论了澳大利亚的有趣案例，在那里很难区分专家和通才鸟类授粉系统。此外，我将鸟类授粉系统的进化起源与涉及专门食蜜鸟类的系统进行比较，并重建夏威夷的鸟类授粉系统，这可能代表了专家和通才鸟类授粉系统之间的中间体。我还讨论了澳大利亚的有趣案例，在那里很难区分专家和通才鸟类授粉系统。