Floral roles in hummingbirds-mediated indirect plant interactions in
Tropical Andean communities.
Abstract
In pollination networks, indirect plant-plant interactions mediated by
their shared pollinators, can shape community dynamics and species
fitness; yet, the influence of floral traits on species roles remains
unclear, particularly in diverse ecosystems like the tropical Andes. We
studied hummingbird-mediated interactions among 31 flowering plants in
three high-elevation shrubby habitats located in southern Ecuador.
During August and November 2022, and January 2023, we collected stigma
samples and constructed weighted interaction networks linked by
heterospecific pollen grains. Species roles were determined by defining
if they were overall donors or receptors of pollen. We also explored the
association between the abundance of flowers and different floral traits
and species roles. Finally, we assessed the potential influence of
floral roles on species fitness by calculating the ratio of
conspecific-to-heterospecific pollen grains observed in each species. We
found that the identity of donor and receptor species was highly dynamic
across sites and time. Donor species were characterized by being highly
abundant, and having long and wide corollas, while receptor species had
low abundance, and short and narrow corollas. Donor species received
less heterospecific pollen than conspecific pollen, indicating that the
pollen sharing roles of species could have fitness consequences. Our
findings highlight the importance of floral traits and abundance in
shaping floral roles and their potential fitness consequences in
hummingbird-mediated indirect interactions.