Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40021772›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2025

Plant-pollinator trait matching affects pollen transfer but not feeding efficiency of Australian honeyeaters (Aves, Meliphagidae).

Amanda E Hewes, Todd J McWhorter, Alejandro Rico-Guevara

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Amanda E HewesDepartment of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. amanda.e.hewes@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7706-633X
Todd J McWhorterSchool of Animal & Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4746-4975
Alejandro Rico-GuevaraDepartment of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4067-5312

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Animal pollination is common among flowering plants. Increased morphological matching between floral and pollinator traits is thought to increase pollen transfer and feeding efficiency, but we lack studies that empirically demonstrate this. Working with Australian honeyeaters, we find that there is positive correlation between bill-corolla matching and pollen deposition at flowers, but no correlation with how efficiently birds can extract floral nectar. The species with the lowest bill-corolla matching deposited the fewest pollen grains but had the highest feeding efficiency, showing that bill-corolla matching expectations were met on the plant side of this interaction but not on the pollinator side. Finally, we find different interspecific patterns of pollen deposition at the scales of a single flower visit versus the landscape, due to differences in patterns of plant visitation. This work illustrates the need for more studies that directly correlate trait matching to fitness proxies of plants and avian pollinators.

Indexed as

Feeding BehaviorPasseriformesPollenPollinationAnimalsAustraliaFlowersPlant NectarPlant Nectar

Identifiers

PMID40021772
PMCPMC11871056

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.