Modeling coevolution and sympatric speciation of flowers and pollinators

A model based on quantitative genetics for the coevolution of plants and their pollinators is proposed. The model is characterized by competition for resources and by a two-fold coupling between the two types of species: pollinators depend on plants for resources and plants on pollinators for pollination. Starting with unimodal trait distributions, we study the dynamics of the model using computer simulations with discrete generations and alternating reproduction and selection. Under a variety of conditions we observe an evolution towards bimodal distributions, with two subpopulations that are reproductively isolated to a large extent. We also find sympatric speciation in situations where two pollinators pollinate the same plant, and where one pollinator pollinates two plants.