Abstract

Pollination represents one of the most important mutualistic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems, with pollinators serving as key drivers of floral evolution and diversity patterns. This comprehensive review synthesizes current understanding of pollinator-plant interactions across different ecosystems and their role in shaping floral diversity at local, regional, and global scales. We analyzed 156 studies from diverse biomes to examine how pollinator communities influence floral trait evolution, species richness patterns, and community assembly processes. Our analysis reveals that pollinator diversity is strongly correlated with floral diversity across ecosystems, with specialist pollinators driving greater floral specialization and morphological divergence. Tropical ecosystems exhibit the highest pollinator-plant diversity relationships, while island ecosystems show unique patterns of pollinator limitation and floral simplification. Bee communities emerge as primary drivers of floral diversity in temperate regions, while bird and bat pollinators are crucial in tropical systems. Climate change and anthropogenic disturbances are disrupting these relationships, leading to pollination mismatches and potential cascading effects on plant community structure. These findings highlight the critical importance of pollinator conservation for maintaining floral diversity and ecosystem functioning in an era of global environmental change.