NDLI: Plant–hummingbird interactions in the West Indies: floral specialisation gradients associated with environment and hummingbird size

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Dalsgaard, Bo Martín González, Ana M. Olesen, Jens M. Ollerton, Jeff Timmermann, Allan Andersen, Laila H. Tossas, Adrianne G.
Copyright Year	2008
Abstract	Floral phenotype and pollination system of a plant may be influenced by the abiotic environment and the local pollinator assemblage. This was investigated in seven plant–hummingbird assemblages on the West Indian islands of Grenada, Dominica and Puerto Rico. We report all hummingbird and insect pollinators of 49 hummingbird-pollinated plant species, as well as six quantitative and semi-quantitative floral characters that determine visitor restriction, attraction and reward. Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis, we show that hummingbird-pollinated plants in the West Indies separate in floral phenotypic space into two gradients—one associated with the abiotic environment and another with hummingbird size. Plants pollinated by large, long-billed hummingbirds had flowers with long corolla tube, large amounts of nectar and showy orange-red colouration. These attracted few or no insect species, whereas plants pollinated by small, short-billed hummingbirds were frequently pollinated by insects, particularly lepidopterans. The separation of plants related to environmental factors showed that species in the wet and cold highlands produced large amounts of dilute nectar, possessed no or a weak odour, and were associated with few insects, particularly few hymenopterans, compared to plants in the dry and warm lowlands. The most specialised hummingbird-pollinated plants are found in the West Indian highlands where they are pollinated by mainly large, long-billed hummingbirds. At the other extreme, highly generalised plants growing in the dry and warm lowlands are pollinated by small, short-billed hummingbirds and numerous insect species. This illustrates that, even within the hummingbird-pollinated flora, pollination syndrome and the degree of specialisation may vary tremendously depending on pollinator morphology and environment.
Starting Page	757
Ending Page	766
Page Count	10
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00298549
Journal	Oecologia
Volume Number	159
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	14321939
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2009-01-09
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Floral phenotype Insect pollinator Ornithophilous syndrome Plant–pollinator interaction Specialisation gradient Plant Sciences Ecology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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