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Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2003; 5(3): 331-337
DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-40802
Original Paper

Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

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

C. Dziedzioch 1 , 3 , A.-D. Stevens 2 , 3 , G. Gottsberger 3
  • 1Institute for Biodiversity - Network e.V., Regensburg, Germany
  • 2Present address: Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 6 - 8, 14191 Berlin, Germany
  • 3Abteilung Systematische Botanik und Ökologie, Universität Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
22 July 2003 (online)

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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.

Key words

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

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C. Dziedzioch

Institute for Biodiversity - Network e. V.

Dr.-Johann-Maier-Straße 4

93049 Regensburg

Germany

Email: dziedzioch@biodiv.de

Section Editor: W. H. van der Putten