Urbanization correlates with genetic and plastic variation of Impatiens capensis flower morphology

Abstract

The spectacular diversity of flowers is largely driven by pollinator-mediated selection that favors attractive flowers and effective pollen transfer. Urbanization has the potential to affect floral trait evolution by altering pollinator communities through environmental changes. Additionally, abiotic changes in urban habitats can induce phenotypic plasticity, further shaping evolutionary trajectories. We investigated how urbanization affects the genetic and plastic components of flower morphology of Impatiens capensis (Balsaminaceae) across four Canadian cities. We found that urbanization influenced the pollinator community composition and the body size of bumblebees, the species’ main pollinator, although the magnitude of the size effect varied among cities. Using a combination of field surveys and a common garden experiment, our results suggest that urbanization affects sepal size—a tubular floral organ in which pollinators enter to access the nectar—through both genetic and plastic responses. While plasticity sometimes masked the genetic determination of sepal size in the field, we observed a positive correlation between the genetic component of the sepal size and bumblebee body size. These results suggest that urban habitats may drive evolutionary changes in floral traits by modifying pollinator communities.