Anderson et al. studied three species of birds known to pollinate the shrub Rhabdothamnus solandri. They compared shrub populations at sites on the North Island of New Zealand, where the birds are functionally extinct, to populations at sites on three nearby islands, where the birds remain abundant. Combining field studies with experiments, the authors showed that functional extinction of the birds limited pollination of the shrub, reducing seed production by 84% and reducing the number of juvenile plants produced per adult by 55%.
Anderson et al. studied three species of birds known to pollinate the shrub Rhabdothamnus solandri. They compared shrub populations at sites on the North Island of New Zealand, where the birds are functionally extinct, to populations at sites on three nearby islands, where the birds remain abundant. Combining field studies with experiments, the authors showed that functional extinction of the birds limited pollination of the shrub, reducing seed production by 84% and reducing the number of juvenile plants produced per adult by 55%.
