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Data and code from: Incorporating pollinator movement into connectivity models predicts pollen-mediated gene flow and highlights the importance of regenerating forests in tropical landscapes

Davis, Kathryn E. C.1; Thomassen, Emil Sloth2; Wagner, Helene H.3; Kormann, Urs G.4; Hadley, Adam S.5; Betts, Matthew G.5; Torres-Vanegas, Felipe36

Published Mar 24, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3ffbg7b08

Data files

Mar 24, 2026 version files 35 MB

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Abstract

Pollen-mediated gene flow is crucial for ecological and evolutionary processes, and understanding its disruption by anthropogenic disturbances is essential for conservation. In this study, we developed landscape connectivity metrics that incorporated hummingbird movement behaviour to assess how structural (amount and configuration) and functional (species-specific behavioural response) landscape connectivity influences pollen-mediated gene flow in a tropical plant species. We adapted the incidence function model (IFM) to develop a set of functional landscape connectivity metrics that integrated pollinator movement behaviour. We evaluated whether these metrics outperform structural landscape connectivity metrics for explaining contemporary pollen-mediated gene flow. The performance of landscape connectivity metrics as predictors of contemporary pollen-mediated gene flow is scale dependent. At the focal patch scale, pollen-mediated gene flow was better predicted by structural connectivity metrics, specifically the area of contiguous mature forest. At the local landscape scale, pollen-mediated gene flow was better predicted by functional connectivity metrics that accounted for hummingbird movement, including gap-crossing probabilities. We found that including regenerating forests and narrow forest elements better explained pollen-mediated gene flow than a focus solely on mature forest. By integrating hummingbird movement behaviour, we offer a more realistic and nuanced understanding of how landscapes influence pollen-mediated gene flow. We underscore the importance of accounting for pollinator movement behaviour in conservation strategies that aim to preserve pollen-mediated gene flow, and demonstrate that forest regeneration in critical for maintaining functional landscape connectivity in tropical fragmented landscapes.