Plant-hummingbird interactions and temporal nectar availability in arestinga from Brazil

ABSTRACT Hummingbirds are the most important and specialized group of pollinating birds in the Neotropics and their interactions with plants are key components to many communities. In the present study we identified the assemblage of plants visited by hummingbirds and investigated the temporal availability of floral resources in an area of restinga, sandy plain coastal vegetation associated with the Atlantic forest, in Southeastern Brazil. We recorded flower and nectar features, flowering phenology and interactions between plants and hummingbirds and estimated the amount of calories produced per hectare from June 2005 to August 2006. Ten plant species were visited by two hummingbirds,Amazilia fimbriata and Eupetomena macroura. Resource availability was highly variable among plant species and over time. Nectar volume and concentration per flower were similar to other Neotropical hummingbird-visited plant assemblages. The estimated nectar resource availability between months varied from 0.85 to 5.97 Kcal per hectare/day, demanding an area between one and 6.8 ha to support a single hummingbird. Our study reports an unusual tropical setting where almost all interactions between hummingbirds and plants were performed by a single hummingbird species,A. fimbriata. Hence, the variable nectar availability is probably influencing hummingbird movements, its foraging area, and consequently plant pollination.

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Salvage of floral resources through re-absorption before flower abscission

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-72994-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Graham H. Pyke ◽

Zong-Xin Ren ◽

Judith Trunschke ◽

Klaus Lunau ◽

Hong Wang

Keyword(s):

Floral Resources ◽

Floral Nectar ◽

Nectar Volume ◽

Flower Colours ◽

Nectar Concentration ◽

Nectar Sugar ◽

Biochemical Mechanisms ◽

Floral Resource ◽

Almost All

Abstract Plants invest floral resources, including nectar and pigment, with likely consequent reproductive costs. We hypothesized that plants, whose flowers abscise with age, reabsorb nectar and pigment before abscission. This was tested with flowers of Rhododendron decorum, which has large, conspicuous white flowers that increasingly abscise corollas as flowers age. As this species is pollinated by bees, we also hypothesized that nectar concentration would be relatively high (i.e., > 30% wt/vol) and petals would contain UV-absorbing pigment. Floral nectar volume and concentration were sampled on successive days until abscission (up to ten days old, peak at five days) and for sub-sample of four-day-old flowers. Flowers just abscised were similarly sampled. Flower colours were measured using a modified camera, with recordings of spectral reflectance for abscised and open non-abscised flowers. Pigment content was summed values of red, green, blue channels of false color photos. As expected, flowers reabsorbed almost all nectar before abscission, separately reabsorbing nectar-sugar and nectar-water, and petals contained UV-absorbing pigment. However, flowers did not reabsorb pigment and nectar-concentration was < 30% wt/vol. That flowers reabsorb nectar, not pigment, remains unexplained, though possibly pigment reabsorption is uneconomical. Understanding floral resource reabsorption therefore requires determination of biochemical mechanisms, plus costs/benefits for individual plants.

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Pollination biology of Cleomella serrulata and Polanisia dodecandra in a protected natural prairie in southern Alberta, Canada

Botany ◽

10.1139/cjb-2015-0084 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 93 (11) ◽

pp. 745-757 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mónica Higuera-Díaz ◽

Jessamyn S. Manson ◽

Jocelyn C. Hall

Keyword(s):

Native Species ◽

First Record ◽

Flowering Phenology ◽

Floral Resources ◽

Nectar Production ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Nectar Volume ◽

Study Sites ◽

Pollination Systems ◽

Generalist Pollination

Flowering plants that attract a diverse range of pollinators represent a generalist pollination system. Studying these plants provides valuable information about accessibility of floral resources to pollinators, which is particularly important in areas where scarcity of flowers limits pollinator populations. Here, we describe the flowering phenology, reproductive biology, and visitor community of Cleomella serrulata (Pursh) Roalson & J.C.Hall and Polanisia dodecandra (L.) DC., two native species with generalist pollination systems and limited distribution in Albertan prairies. Although their flowers are similar, they differ in traits such as petal colour, inflorescence size, and nectar display. Both species were facultatively cross-pollinated and exhibited nocturnal anthesis but differed in nectar production patterns. Cleomella serrulata produced highest nectar volume in the morning and highest sugar concentration at noon, while Polanisia dodecandra produced highest nectar volume before noon but sugar concentrations were higher at sunset. We observed 150 insect taxa visiting the plants, with Hymenoptera and Diptera as the most frequent visitors for Cleomella serrulata and Polanisia dodecandra, respectively. We recorded the first nocturnal flower visitors for Cleomella serrulata and the first record of Nysson plagiatus (Cresson) for Alberta. Both plant species present effective nectar and pollen resources for pollinators at the study sites and may be useful in the maintenance of native pollinators in at-risk prairie ecosystems.

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Seasonal Variation in Bee-Plant Interactions in an Inselberg in the Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil

Sociobiology ◽

10.13102/sociobiology.v65i4.3473 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 612 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marcelita França Marques ◽

Mariana Scaramussa Deprá ◽

Maria Cristina Gaglianone

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Atlantic Forest ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Interaction Network ◽

Dry Season ◽

Floral Resources ◽

Southeastern Brazil ◽

Plant Interactions ◽

Wet Season ◽

Bee Plant

Studies on bee-plant interactions are relevant to the understanding of temporal patterns in neotropical communities. In isolated habitats such as inselbergs little is yet known about the temporal dynamics in the availability of fl oral resources and interacting bee. In the present study, the objective is to verify the eff ect of seasonality on the bee-plant interaction in an Atlantic Forest inselberg in southeastern Brazil. The bees were sampled monthly in the dry (April/2008-September/2008) and wet seasons (October/2008-March/2009) using an entomological net. A total of 322 bees of 33 species were captured on fl owers of 34 species of plants during the year. Bees richness was similar between seasons (22 species in the wet season and 21 in the dry season), but abundance was higher in the wet season (60% of individuals) and higher diversity occurred in the dry season. Augochloropsis sp1 were the most abundant species and visited the largest number of plant species at each season. In the interaction network, plants with the highest degree were distinct between the seasons. The number of possible interactions was higher in the dry season compared to the wet season and connectance was similar; nestedness however varied between the seasons. The composition of plant and bees species was distinct between the seasons, as well as the interactions between them, mainly due to the alteration in the composition of the plant species and the change in the choice of the bees for the floral resources between the seasons.

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First report of predation on floral visitors by crab spiders on Croton selowii Baill. (Euphorbiaceae)

Acta Botanica Brasilica ◽

10.1590/s0102-33062010000200029 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 592-594 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Reinaldo Rodrigo Novo ◽

Jefferson Thiago Souza ◽

Cibele Cardoso de Castro

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Resource Availability ◽

Coastal Vegetation ◽

First Report ◽

Invertebrate Species ◽

Wide Range ◽

Foraging Site ◽

Floral Visitors ◽

Crab Spiders ◽

Generalist Pollination

In the literature it has been extensively mentioned that crab spiders (Araneae: Thomisidae) prey on floral visitors of several plant species. Here we present observations of Croton selowii Baill. (Euphorbiaceae), a monoecious species harboring individuals of crab spiders in an area of coastal vegetation of Pernambuco state, Brazil. The species is visited by several invertebrate orders, and some of them were preyed upon by the spiders, mainly Diptera species. The spiders rubbed the forelimbs within the flowers, which may constitute a strategy to camouflage these structures. Croton selowii seems to represent a suitable foraging site for the spiders, because it has a generalist pollination system (thus being visited by a wide range of invertebrate species) and blooms in a period of low flower resource availability in the area.

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Relationships between resource availability and elevation vary between metrics creating gradients of nutritional complexity

Oecologia ◽

10.1007/s00442-020-04824-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 195 (1) ◽

pp. 213-223

Author(s):

Mark A. Lee ◽

Grace Burger ◽

Emma R. Green ◽

Pepijn W. Kooij

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Resource Availability ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Mineral Contents ◽

Nutritive Values ◽

Animal Community ◽

Nutritional Chemistry ◽

The Relationship

AbstractPlant and animal community composition changes at higher elevations on mountains. Plant and animal species richness generally declines with elevation, but the shape of the relationship differs between taxa. There are several proposed mechanisms, including the productivity hypotheses; that declines in available plant biomass confers fewer resources to consumers, thus supporting fewer species. We investigated resource availability as we ascended three aspects of Helvellyn mountain, UK, measuring several plant nutritive metrics, plant species richness and biomass. We observed a linear decline in plant species richness as we ascended the mountain but there was a unimodal relationship between plant biomass and elevation. Generally, the highest biomass values at mid-elevations were associated with the lowest nutritive values, except mineral contents which declined with elevation. Intra-specific and inter-specific increases in nutritive values nearer the top and bottom of the mountain indicated that physiological, phenological and compositional mechanisms may have played a role. The shape of the relationship between resource availability and elevation was different depending on the metric. Many consumers actively select or avoid plants based on their nutritive values and the abundances of consumer taxa vary in their relationships with elevation. Consideration of multiple nutritive metrics and of the nutritional requirements of the consumer may provide a greater understanding of changes to plant and animal communities at higher elevations. We propose a novel hypothesis for explaining elevational diversity gradients, which warrants further study; the ‘nutritional complexity hypothesis’, where consumer species coexist due to greater variation in the nutritional chemistry of plants.

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Flower mites decrease nectar availability in the rain-forest bromeliad Neoregelia johannis

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467410000179 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 373-379 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tadeu J. Guerra ◽

Gustavo Q. Romero ◽

Woodruff W. Benson

Keyword(s):

Rain Forest ◽

Sugar Content ◽

Sugar Concentration ◽

Production Rates ◽

Nectar Production ◽

Nectar Volume ◽

Bombus Morio ◽

Nectar Rewards ◽

Flower Mites ◽

Nectar Availability

Abstract:Nectarivorous flower mites can reduce the volume of nectar available to pollinators. The effects of the flower mite Proctolaelaps sp. on nectar availability in flowers of a melittophilous bromeliad Neoregelia johannis (Bromeliaceae) was evaluated in a coastal rain forest in south-eastern Brazil. In a randomized block experiment utilizing 18 flower pairs, one per bromeliad ramet, pollinators (Bombus morio) and mites were excluded, and then nectar volume, sugar concentration and sugar mass were quantified over the anthesis period. Mites significantly reduced nectar volume early in the morning (6h00–8h00), but not later (10h00–12h00). Mites decreased total volume of nectar available up to 22%. Sugar concentration in nectar was higher earlier in the morning, and decreased between 10h00–12h00. The pronounced consumption of nectar by mites during the period of higher sugar concentration reduced the total amount of sugar available to pollinators by 31%. This is the first study showing that flower mites decrease nectar rewards in a melittophilous plant. Because nectar volume by itself incompletely describes nectar production rates and the effects of nectar removal by flower mites on the availability of sugar, our study highlights the inclusion of sugar content in future studies assessing the effects of thieves on nectar production rates.

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Floral Resources Sustaining African Meliponine Bee Species (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) in a Fragile Habitat of Kenya

Journal of Biology and Life Science ◽

10.5296/jbls.v8i1.10127 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 42 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bridget O. Bobadoye ◽

Paul N. Ndegwa ◽

Lucy Irungu ◽

Fombong Ayuka ◽

Robert Kajobe

Keyword(s):

Flowering Phenology ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Flowering Plants ◽

Flowering Plant ◽

Floral Resources ◽

Habitat Gradients ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Taita Hills ◽

Insect Pollinators ◽

Diverse Habitat

A vast majority of insects visit flowers for food, generally termed as floral rewards. Detailed insights on flowering phenology of plants could give a hint of habitat status and the extent to which such landscapes could support insect pollinators to render both direct and indirect ecosystem services. This study monitored flowering plants which could potentially provide both pollen and nectar sources to four African meliponine bee species (Apidae: Meliponini) naturally occurring in six diverse habitat gradients of the eastern arc mountains (Taita hills) of Kenya. Blooming sequences of identified flowering plants overlapped across seasons with approximately 80 different plant species belonging to 34 families recorded, with the highest proportions from Fabaceae and Asteraceae families dominating flowering plants that were visited (67% of the visits). A flowering calendar is presented to indicate the phenological pattern of all identified floral resources. Hypotrigona gribodoi being the most abundant species had the highest visitation rates on plants belonging to Fabaceae and Asteraceae families, followed by Meliponula ferruginea (black), Plebeina hildebrandti and Hypotrigona ruspolii. This indicates that such fragile habitat could invariably sustain nutritional requirements essential for the survival of insect pollinators such as native meliponine bee species, though bee abundance at flowers did not significantly correlate to food availability (expressed by flowering plant richness).

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Reproductive phenology in a riparian rainforest in the south of Santa Catarina state, Brazil

Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências ◽

10.1590/0001-37652013105112 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 85 (4) ◽

pp. 1449-1460 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

MAINARA F. CASCAES ◽

VANILDE CITADINI-ZANETTE ◽

BIRGIT HARTER-MARQUES

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Resource Availability ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Seasonal Pattern ◽

Riparian Forests ◽

Reproductive Phenology ◽

Environmental Restoration ◽

Fruit Availability ◽

One Year ◽

Riparian Plant

Phenological studies assist in forest ecosystems comprehension and evaluation of resource availability for wildlife, as well as in improving the understanding of relationships between plants and their pollinators and dispersers. This study aims to describe the reproductive phenophases of riparian plant species and correlate them with climatic variables. The reproductive phenology was analyzed biweekly throughout one year, recording the absence or presence of flowers/fruits. The flowering phenophase occurred throughout the year, with an increase in number of species in blossom in October, November, and December. The flowering peak of the community was observed in November. The fruiting phenophase also occurred throughout the year and showed an increase of species fruiting in June with a slight decrease in August and September. The data obtained in this study, when compared with other studies in different Atlantic Rainforest areas, indicates a seasonal pattern for the flowering phenophase and a variation in fruit availability throughout the year as well as in the fruiting peaks. Therefore, studies that observe flowering and fruiting events in loco are of main importance because they provide information on reproductive seasons of species for use in environmental restoration projects and thus alleviate the situation of degradation of riparian forests.

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Cecidomyiidae (Diptera, Insecta): richness of species and distribution in Brazil

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2020-1038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Valéria Cid Maia

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Atlantic Forest ◽

Gall Midge ◽

The Other ◽

Amazon Forest ◽

Gall Midges ◽

Species Origin ◽

Neotropical Species ◽

Fauna Composition ◽

Almost All

Abstract: Most Neotropical species of Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) have been described from Brazil, but a list of species with occurrence in the country has never been published. Little is known about their distribution and richness in the Brazilian phytogeographic domains. Additionally, a list of host plant species has never been gathered. The present study aims to fill these knowledge gaps and provides an overview of this family in Brazil. For this, data were obtained mainly from the literature, but also from the Cecidomyiidae collection of Museu Nacional and two herbaria (RB and R). Based on the site "Flora do Brasil 2020", botanical names were updated and plant species origin and distribution were verified. A total of 265 gall midge species have been recorded in Brazil, most from the Atlantic Forest (183), followed by Cerrado (60), and Amazon Forest (29). The other phytogeographic domains shelter from five to ten species. Phytophagous gall midges occur on 128 plant species of 52 families, almost all native, being 43 endemic to Brazil (21 endemic to Atlantic Forest, five to Cerrado, and one to Amazon). Although, the taxonomical knowledge is focused on the Atlantic Forest, each domain has its own fauna composition and these informations can be useful for environmental conservational purposes. About 58% of the Brazilian fauna are known only from the type-locality. In order to fill these gaps, it is necessary and important to collect in uninvestigated areas.

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The Community of Ecological Opportunities

Evolutionary Community Ecology ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691088778.003.0002 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Mark A. McPeek

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Resource Availability ◽

Intraguild Predation ◽

Species Interactions ◽

Apparent Competition ◽

Predation Pressure ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Model Species ◽

Pollinator Species ◽

Different Types

This chapter examines ecological opportunities that are available to species in various positions within a biological community, with particular emphasis on identifying the criteria necessary for an ecological opportunity to exist. Before discussing what performance capabilities a species must have to fill different types of ecological opportunities and what is required for invasibility of species into different functional positions in a community, the chapter considers the different frameworks that have been used to model species interactions. It then describes resource and apparent competition to show how resource availability from below and predation pressure from above can affect the types of species that can exploit specifc ecological opportunities. It also analyzes communities with three trophic levels, intraguild predation or omnivory, mutualism, the mechanisms that foster coexistence between one plant species and one pollinator species, and the case of one plant species with multiple pollinators.

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