Premises of the study

Floral damage caused by florivores often has negative consequences for plant reproduction.
However, the factors affecting plant-florivore interactions are still poorly understood, especially
the role of abiotic factors and interspecific variation in florivory within ecosystems. Thus, it is
largely required to investigate the patterns of florivory levels and its consequences for plant
communities.

Methods

We assessed the influence of abiotic factors related to climatic seasonality, of phylogenetic

relationships among plants, and of functional attributes associated with attractiveness to
pollinators on florivory levels (incidence and intensity) in the Pantanal, the world's largest
tropical wetland. Between December 2020 and November 2021, the percentage of both flowers
attacked (incidence) and area removed from petals (intensity) by florivores were examined in 51
species from 25 families, considering flowering season, the substrate where the plants occur, and
floral attributes as potentially determining factors on florivory levels.

Key results

Phylogeny and environmental factors did not have a significant influence on florivory. The only
determinant of interspecific variation in florivory incidence and intensity was flower size, where
larger flowers experienced higher florivory levels regardless of season and substrate, while
flower arrangement and color were not significant factors.

Conclusions

Our study is one of the first to estimate the community-wide effects of biotic and abiotic factors
on both the incidence and the intensity of florivory. The magnitude of this plant-florivore
interaction may reduce reproductive success and entail selective pressures on plant attractiveness
to pollinators.