Floral phenology of an Andean bellflower and pollination by buff‐tailed sicklebill hummingbird

Ecology and Evolution

Jill E. Jankowski¹  Mannfred M. A. Boehm²  Quentin C. B. Cronk²  David Guevara‐Apaza³ 

[1] Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada;Department of Botany University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada;Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Universidad San Antonio Abad del Cusco Cusco Peru;

关键词: Andes;    Campanulaceae;    Centropogon;    diversification;    Eutoxeres;    specialization;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.8988

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract The Andean bellflowers comprise an explosive radiation correlated with shifts to specialized pollination. One diverse clade has evolved with extremely curved floral tubes and is predicted to be pollinated exclusively by one of two parapatric species of sicklebill hummingbirds (Eutoxeres). In this study, we focused on the floral biology of Centropogon granulosus, a bellflower thought to be specialized for pollination by Eutoxeres condamini, in a montane cloud forest site in southeastern Peru. Using camera traps and a pollination exclusion experiment, we documented E. condamini as the sole pollinator of C. granulosus. Visitation by E. condamini was necessary for fruit development. Flowering rates were unequivocally linear and conformed to the “steady‐state” phenological type. Over the course of >1800 h of monitoring, we recorded 12 E. condamini visits totaling 42 s, indicating traplining behavior. As predicted by its curved flowers, C. granulosus is exclusively pollinated by buff‐tailed sicklebill within our study area. We present evidence for the congruence of phenology and visitation as a driver of specialization in this highly diverse clade of Andean bellflowers.

【 授权许可】

Unknown