| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Dyer, Adrian G.
[1]
;
Jentsch, Anke
[2]
;
Burd, Martin
[3]
;
Garcia, Jair E.
[1]
;
Giejsztowt, Justyna
[2]
;
Camargo, Maria G. G.
[4]
;
Tjorve, Even
[5]
;
Tjorve, Kathleen M. C.
[5]
;
White, Peter
[6]
;
Shrestha, Mani
[1, 7]
Total Authors: 10
|
| Affiliation: | [1] RMIT Univ, Sch Media & Commun, Melbourne, Vic - Australia
[2] Univ Bayreuth, Bayreuth Ctr Ecol & Environm Res, Dept Disturbance Ecol, Bayreuth - Germany
[3] Monash Univ, Sch Biol Sci, Melbourne, Vic - Australia
[4] UNESP Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Biodivers, Phenol Lab, Biosci Inst, Sao Paulo - Brazil
[5] Inland Norway Univ Appl Sci, Lillehammer - Norway
[6] Univ N Carolina, Dept Biol, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 - USA
[7] Monash Univ, Fac Informat Technol, Melbourne, Vic - Australia
Total Affiliations: 7
|
| Document type: | Review article |
| Source: | FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE; v. 11, JAN 15 2021. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 2 |
| Abstract | |
Blue is a favored color of many humans. While blue skies and oceans are a common visual experience, this color is less frequently observed in flowers. We first review how blue has been important in human culture, and thus how our perception of blue has likely influenced the way of scientifically evaluating signals produced in nature, including approaches as disparate as Goethe's Farbenlehre, Linneaus' plant taxonomy, and current studies of plant-pollinator networks. We discuss the fact that most animals, however, have different vision to humans; for example, bee pollinators have trichromatic vision based on UV-, Blue-, and Green-sensitive photoreceptors with innate preferences for predominantly short-wavelength reflecting colors, including what we perceive as blue. The subsequent evolution of blue flowers may be driven by increased competition for pollinators, both because of a harsher environment (as at high altitude) or from high diversity and density of flowering plants (as in nutrient-rich meadows). The adaptive value of blue flowers should also be reinforced by nutrient richness or other factors, abiotic and biotic, that may reduce extra costs of blue-pigments synthesis. We thus provide new perspectives emphasizing that, while humans view blue as a less frequently evolved color in nature, to understand signaling, it is essential to employ models of biologically relevant observers. By doing so, we conclude that short wavelength reflecting blue flowers are indeed frequent in nature when considering the color vision and preferences of bees. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 15/10754-8 - Spatio-temporal variations in the flower-color spectra according to the pollinators' visual systems |
| Grantee: | Maria Gabriela Gutierrez de Camargo |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral |