Consistent spatial–temporal variations of stigmatic pollen load among co-flowering species across six sub-alpine meadows

Co-flowering species may have evolved strategies to avoid or tolerate the adverse effects of heterospecific pollen deposition. However, the precondition for this evolutionary response is spatial-temporal stability, an aspect currently understudied. Here, we examined the spatial-temporal stability in conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads on stigmas across 19 co-flowering species in six sub-alpine meadow communities over four consecutive years. We found that, although conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads, as well as proportions of heterospecific pollen, differed significantly among species, with heterospecific pollen proportion ranging from 0.1% to 41.8%, variation in heterospecific pollen proportion among species was stable across different years and communities. The most important predictor of variation in both conspecific and heterospecific pollen loads, as well as heterospecific pollen proportions, was species identity; furthermore, this factor was independent of phylogenetic relationship. The proportion of heterospecific pollen varied less within species that had high proportions of heterospecific pollen. Furthermore, both the proportion of heterospecific pollen and its coefficient of variation were more strongly driven by heterospecific pollen than by conspecific pollen. Our study suggests that variation in stigmatic pollen load among co-flowering species is spatially and temporally consistent, a precondition for the tolerance-avoidance strategy. This study provides new insights into how different plant species respond to heterospecific pollen deposition.