Plant-Pollinator Interactions: From Specialization to Generalization

Just as flowering plants depend on their pollinators, many birds, insects, and bats rely on plants for energy and nutrients. This plant-pollinator relationship is essential to the survival of natural and agricultural ecosystems. Plant-Pollinator Interactions portrays the intimate relationships of pollination over time and space and reveals patterns of interactions from individual to community levels, showing how these patterns change at different spatial and temporal scales. Nickolas M. Waser and Jeff Ollerton bring together experts from around the world to offer a comprehensive analysis of pollination, including the history of thinking about specialization and generalization and a comparison of pollination to other mutualisms. An overview of current thinking and of future research priorities, Plant-Pollinator Interactions covers an important theme in evolutionary ecology with far-reaching applications in conservation and agriculture. This book will find an eager audience in specialists studying pollination and other mutualisms, as well as with biologists who are interested in ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral aspects of the specialization and generalization of species.

About the Author :
Nickolas M. Waser is professor emeritus of biology at the University of California, Riverside, and adjunct professor at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona. Jeff Ollerton is senior lecturer in ecology at the School of Applied Sciences at University College Northampton.

Review :
"A timely piece, providing a comprehensive view of our current understanding of multispecies plant-pollinator interactions. The chapters are well referenced and well written, making for an informative text for graduate students as well as researchers."--Rebecca E. Irwin "Ecoscience" "Pollination biology at its best!...This book is a must-read for pollination biologists, and for those interested in evolutionary ecology, biological interactions, and co-evolution."--Markus Fischer "Basic and Applied Ecology" "The book will not only prove to be a handy reference but it will also prove to stimulate new research by showing how recently developed tools . . . have enabled researchers to address questions that for a long time have been inaccessible."--Peter Klinkhamer "Annals of Botany" "This book contributes to a better understanding of the role of specialists and generalists, not only in the plant-pollinator research, but in the evolution and ecology of trophic interactions."--Carlos J. Melián "Ecology" "Plant-Pollinator Interactions covers an important theme in evolutionary ecology with far-reaching applications in conservation and agriculture. This book will find an eager audience in specialists studying pollination and other mutualisms, as well as with biologists who are interested in ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral aspects of the specialization and generalization of species."--Ethology "Ecology & Evolution" "A masterful overview of a rich field in a stage of dynamic ferment....Plant-Pollinator Interactions will define much of the debate on the central issue of specialization and generalization in pollination biology. I recommend it to all students of pollination, as well as to those interested in broader issues of plant and animal interactions."--Henry F. Howe "BioScience" (1/1/2007 12:00:00 AM) "In Plant-Pollinator Interactions, Waser and Ollerton bring together experts from different regions of the world to address how patterns of specialization and generalization in pollination systems vary across spatial and temporal scales. . . . An important contribution to our understanding of plant-pollinator interactions. . . . By reading this book . . . one will conclude that pollination biology is undergoing a renaissance that will ultimately provide us with a deeper understanding of the evolutionary and ecological processes involved in this fascinating interaction."--Shuang-Quan Huang "Trends in Ecology and Evolution" "Plant-Pollinator Interactions is a multifaceted exploration of the specialization-generalization continuum in pollination; however, it goes well beyond pollination to draw novel connections with other interspecific interactions. Conceptually framed, highly synthetic, and up-to-date, this impressive edited volume should appeal to a broad cross-section of ecologists and evolutionary biologists."--Judith Bronstein, University of Arizona -- "Judith Bronstein" "This is an excellent book that masterfully covers the field of pollination biology at different scales, from populations through communities to landscapes, and from both basic and applied viewpoints. It represents a balanced mix of largely conceptual and empirical chapters. Empirical work employs the three mainstays of ecological research-- careful observation, planned experimentation, and comparative analysis with phylogenetic control. This book would be an ideal starting point for students interested in studying plant-pollinator interactions but also, more broadly, for anyone interested in interspecific interactions and coevolution."--Jacqui Shykoff, Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, CNRS-Université Paris-Sud -- "Jacqui Shykoff"