Pollinator niche partitioning and asymmetric facilitation contribute to the maintenance of diversity

Abstract: Mechanisms that favor rare species are key to the maintenance of diversity. One of the most critical tasks for biodiversity conservation is understanding how plant–pollinator mutualisms contribute to the persistence of rare species, yet this remains poorly understood. Using a process-based model that integrates plant–pollinator and interspecific pollen transfer networks with floral functional traits, we show that niche partitioning in pollinator use and asymmetric facilitation confer fitness advantage of rare species in a biodiversity hotspot. While co-flowering species filtered pollinators via floral traits, rare species showed greater pollinator specialization leading to higher pollination-mediated male and female fitness than abundant species. When plants shared pollinator resources, asymmetric facilitation via pollen transport dynamics benefited the rare species at the cost of the abundant ones, serving as an alternative diversity-promoting mechanism. Our results emphasize the importance of community-wide plant–pollinator interactions that affect reproduction for biodiversity maintenance.