The Hummingbird Plant Community of a Tropical Montane Rain Forest in Southern Ecuador

Abstract

The diversity of a hummingbird plant community in the eastern Andes of southern Ecuador was studied on the equivalent of a hectare (two 500 × 10 m transects) at 1920 - 2100 m a.s.l. over the course of a year. A total of 3186 flowering individuals, representing 12 plant families, 29 genera and 72 species, were found to be visited by hummingbirds. Bromeliaceae had the most species visited, followed by Orchidaceae and Ericaceae. The majority of visited plant species were represented by a very few individuals, and only a few species of the Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae appeared in large numbers of visited individuals. With regard to life forms visited by hummingbirds, epiphytes predominated (59 %), followed by trees and shrubs (29 %), vines (8 %) and herbs (4 %). Visited flowers usually had short- to medium-long floral tubes which were either functionally or morphologically tubiform or campanulate. Fifty percent of the species had red-coloured flowers, and a considerable number of the blossoms (43 %) displayed contrasting colours. The 72 plant species received visits from 26 species of Trochilidae (hummingbirds) and two species of Coerebidae (honeycreepers). A mere eight species of hummingbirds were seen frequently at the study area; the remaining species were only occasionally sighted. The eight frequently sighted species of hummingbirds made use of a total of 74 % of all hummingbird-visited plant species growing in the study area.

Ornithophily - hummingbirds - diversity - tropical montane forest - Ecuador - Podocarpus National Park.

References

• 1 Arizmendi M. C., Ornelas J. F.. Hummingbirds and their flower resources in a tropical dry forest in Mexico.  Biotropica. (1990);  22 172-180
• 2 Barthlott W., Lauer W., Placke A.. Global distribution of species diversity in vascular plants: towards a world map of phytodiversity.  Erdkunde. (1996);  50 317-327
• 3 Baumberger R.. Floral Structure, Coloration, and Evolution of Bird-Pollinated Plants; Correlation with Function Traits in Nectarivorous Birds. Doctoral thesis. Zürich, Switzerland; ADAG Administration & Druck AG, Zürich (1987)
• 4 Beck E., Müller-Hohenstein K.. Analysis of undisturbed and disturbed tropical mountain forest ecosystems in Southern Ecuador.  Die Erde. (2001);  132 1-8
• 5 Bendix J., Lauer W.. Die Niederschlagsjahreszeiten in Ecuador und ihre klimadynamische Interpretation.  Erdkunde. (1992);  46 118-134
• 6 Bleiweiss R.. Tempo and mode of hummingbird evolution.  Biol. J. Linnean Soc.. (1998a);  65 63-76
• 7 Bleiweiss R.. Origin of hummingbird faunas.  Biol. J. Linnean Soc.. (1998b);  65 77-97
• 8 Borchsenius F.. Patterns of plant species endemism in Ecuador.  Biodiversity and Conservation. (1997);  6 379-99
• 9 Cotton P. A.. Temporal partitioning of a floral resource by territorial hummingbirds.  IBIS. (1998a);  140 647-653
• 10 Cotton P. A.. The hummingbird community of lowland Amazonian rainforest.  IBIS. (1998b);  140 512-521
• 11 del Hoyo J., Elliott A., Sargatal J.. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 5. Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds. Barcelona; Lynx Editions (1999): 468-680
• 12 Doumenge C., Gilmour D., Perez M. R., Blockhus J.. Tropical montane cloud forests: conservation status and management issues.  Ecol. Studies. (1995);  110 24-37
• 13 Dziedzioch C.. Artenzusammensetzung und Ressourcenangebot kolibribesuchter Pflanzen im Bergregenwald Südecuadors. Doctoral thesis. Germany; University of Ulm (2001): 1-127
• 14 Ellenberg H.. Vegetationsstufen der perhumiden bis perariden Bereiche der tropischen Anden.  Phytocoenologia. (1975);  2 368-387
• 15 Feinsinger P.. Organization of a tropical guild of nectarivorous birds.  Ecol. Monogr.. (1976);  46 257-291
• 16 Feinsinger P.. Ecological interactions between plants and hummingbirds in a successional tropical community.  Ecological Monographs. (1978);  48 269-286
• 17 Feinsinger P.. Coevolution and pollination. Futuya, D. and Slatkin, M., eds. Coevolution. Sunderland; Sinauer Associates Publisher (1983): 282-310
• 18 Feinsinger P.. Interacciones entre plantas y colibríes en selvas tropicales.  Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias. (1990);  59 31-54
• 19 Gentry A. H.. Flowering phenology and diversity in tropical Bignoniaceae.  Biotropica. (1974);  6 64-68
• 20 Grubb P. J., Lloyd J. R., Pennington T. D., Whitmore T. C.. A comparison of montane and lowland rain forest in Ecuador (Part 1.).  J. of Ecol.. (1963);  51 567-601
• 21 Haffer J.. Speciation in Amazonian forest birds.  Science. (1969);  165 131-136
• 22 Hamilton L. S., Juvik J. O., Scatena F. N.. The Puerto Rico tropical cloud forest symposium: introduction and workshop synthesis. Hamilton, L. S., Juvik, J. O., and Scatena F. N., eds. Tropical Montane Cloud Forests Ecological Studies 110. New York; Springer Verlag (1995): 1-23
• 23 Harling G.. Current Scandinavian botanical research in Ecuador.  Rep. Botanical Institute University Aarhus. (1986);  15 9-10
• 24 Heß D.. Die Blüte. Stuttgart; Eugen Ulmer (1990): 192-285
• 25 Janzen D. H.. Ecology of Plants in the Tropics. London; Edward Arnold Publishers (1975)
• 26 Jørgensen P. M., León-Yanez S.. (eds.) .Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. St. Louis; Missouri Botanical Garden Press (1999)
• 27 Kessler M., Krömer T.. Patterns and ecological correlation of pollination modes among bromeliad communities of Andean forests in Bolivia.  Plant Biology. (2000);  2 659-669
• 28 Kraemer M.. Struktur und Dynamik der Pflanzen-Kolibrigemeinschaft von Bajo Calima, Kolumbien. Doctoral thesis, University of Bonn. Göttingen, Germany; Cuvillier Verlag (1998): 1-106
• 29 Madsen J. E.. Aspectos generales de flora y vegetación del Parque Nacional Podocarpus. Parque Nacional de Podocarpus, Boletín informativo sobre biología, conservación y vida silvestre. Loja, Ecuador; Universidad Nacional, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias (1989): 1-23
• 30 Madsen J. E., Øllgaard B.. Floristic composition, structure and dynamics of an upper montane forest in southern Ecuador.  Nordic J. of Bot.. (1994);  14 403-423
• 31 Maldonado A. N.. Contribución al estudio del clima en la provincia de Loja.  Revista Estudios Universitarios, Universidad Nacional de Loja. (1985);  1 11-140
• 32 Morellato L. P. C., Sazima M.. Modos de polinização em uma floresta semidecídua no sudeste do Brasil (Reserva Santa Genebra, Campinas). Resumos Seminário Mata de Santa Generbra. Conservação e Pesquisa em uma Reserva Florestal urbana em Campinas. (1992): 11-13
• 33 Mueller-Dombois D., Ellenberg H.. Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology. New York; Wiley & Sons (1974): 449-465
• 34 Poley D.. Kolibris: Trochilidae.  Westarp Wissenschaften. (1994);  484 1-174
• 35 Rahbek C., Graves G. R.. Detection of macro-ecological patterns in South American hummingbirds is affected by spatial scale.  Proc. Royal Soc. London B. (2000);  267 2259-2265
• 36 Sazima I., Buzato S., Sazima M.. An assemblage of hummingbird pollinated flowers in a montane forest in southeastern Brazil.  Bot. Acta. (1996);  109 149-160
• 37 Schmitt U.. Die Pflanzen-Kolibri-Gemeinschaft im Bergregenwald der Farallones de Cali, Reserva Natural Hato Viejo, Kolumbien. Doctoral thesis, University of Bonn. Göttingen, Germany; Cuvillier-Verlag (2000): 1-146
• 38 Snow B. K., Snow D. W.. Relationships between hummingbirds and flowers in the Andes of Colombia.  Bull. Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool.. (1980);  38 105-139
• 39 Stein B. A.. Sicklebill Hummingbirds, Ants, and Flowers. Plant-animal interaction and evolutionary relationships in Andean Lobeliaceae.  BioScience. (1992);  42 (1) 27-33
• 40 Stiles F. G.. Geographical aspects of bird-flower coevolution, with particular references to Central America.  Ann. Missouri. Bot. Grad.. (1981);  68 323-351
• 41 Westerkamp C.. Vogelblumen - Blumenvögel. Zizka, G. and Schneckenburger, S., eds. Blütenökologie, Kl. Senckenberg-Reihe Nr. 33, Palmengarten Sonderheft Nr. 31. Frankfurt/Main, Germany; (1999): 88-94
• 42 Wolf L. L., Hainsworth F. R.. Non-random foraging by hummingbirds: Patterns of movement between Ipomopsis aggregata (Pursch) V. Grant inflorescences.  Func. Ecol.. (1990);  4 149-157

Section Editor: W. H. van der Putten