Pollination Ecology of Invasive Plant Species

Invasive plant species often establish in novel environments by exploiting flexible pollination strategies and shifts in mating systems. Many successful invaders display a generalised pollination syndrome, attracting a broad suite of floral visitors including bees, flies, moths and even non‐native pollinators. In some cases, invasive taxa retain specialised traits inherited from their home range but compensate for a lack of appropriate pollinators through increased self‐compatibility or autonomous self‐pollination. Such shifts can enhance reproductive assurance in isolated or low‐pollinator contexts, accelerating population growth and spread. Interactions between invasive plants and local pollinator networks may alter foraging behaviour, pollinator abundances and pollen transfer dynamics, with potential consequences for native plant reproduction. Understanding these ecological and evolutionary mechanisms is crucial for predicting invasion trajectories, assessing risks to biodiversity and designing targeted management interventions. Practical applications range from habitat restoration aimed at reinforcing native pollinator communities to the development of control strategies that disrupt key pollination pathways in highly invasive taxa.

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Pollination Ecology of Invasive Plant Species publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in pollination ecology of invasive plant species across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Invasive species: A non‐native organism that establishes, spreads and causes ecological or economic harm in a new region.

Generalised pollination system: A floral strategy that attracts a wide variety of pollinators rather than specialist visitors.

Self‐compatibility: The ability of a plant to set seed through self‐fertilisation when pollen from the same individual is transferred to its stigma.

Xenogamy: The transfer of pollen between different individuals, resulting in outcrossing and genetic mixing.

Autonomous self‐pollination: A form of self‐fertilisation that occurs without the aid of pollinators, often through physical proximity of anthers and stigma.

References

1. Do Larger Pollinators Have Higher Pollination Efficiency for the Generalized Pollination Plant Hibiscus mutabilis?. Biology (2024).
2. Pollination ecology of the invasive tree tobacco Nicotiana glauca: comparisons across native and non-native ranges. Journal of Pollination Ecology (2012).