Exclusion of bird pollinators impacts mating system and reduces offspring fitness in a pollination-generalist tree.

Background And Aims: Compared to pollinating insects and non-flying mammals (NFM), nectarivorous birds may display behaviours leading to greater pollen carryover. Therefore, plants pollinated by birds may display higher levels of paternal diversity and outcrossing than those pollinated by insects and NFM, with associated fitness benefits for seeds and seedlings. Here, we test these predictions using a plant where birds, insects and NFM are all frequent visitors to flowers.