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The Role Of Continuous Flowering Phenology For In Neotropical Plant-Pollinator Interactions For Use In Conservation, Chelsea Renee Hinton

Online Theses and Dissertations

The diversity of mutualistic interactions in the Neotropics exceeds that of all other tropical regions and is posited to result from a unique assemblage of plant species that produce the highest spatio-temporal predictability of food resources. A rare component of the Neotropical flora that contributes largely to the spatio-temporal predictability of food resources is found in understory shrub or tree-let species with a continuous reproductive phenology (i.e. produce fruit and flowers daily during all months of the year). Plant-animal interaction science suggests that plant species with a longer duration of reproductive phenology will accumulate more mutualistic partners over time and …