| Literature DB >> 33841772 |
David Hořák1, Štěpán Janeček1.
Abstract
Trait matching-a correlation between the morphology of plants and their pollinators-has been frequently observed in pollination interactions. Different intensities of natural selection in individual regions should cause such correlations to be observable across different local assemblages. In this study, we focused on matching between spur lengths of the genus Impatiens and bill lengths of sunbirds in tropical Africa. For 25 mountain and island locations, we compiled information about the composition and traits of local Impatiens and sunbird assemblages. We found that assemblage mean and maximum values of bill lengths were positively correlated with mean and maximum spur lengths across locations. Moreover, our results suggest that the positive correlations hold only for forest sunbird assemblages sharing the same habitat with Impatiens species. We further show that long-billed sunbirds seem to locally match the morphology of multiple Impatiens plant species, not vice versa. Our observation implies that trait matching significantly contributes to structuring of Impatiens-sunbird pollination systems. We suggest that special habitat preferences together with spatial isolation of mountain environment might play a role in this case.Entities:
Keywords: Africa; forest undergrowth; nectarivory; plant–bird interaction; pollination
Year: 2021 PMID: 33841772 PMCID: PMC8019056 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7258
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Ecol Evol ISSN: 2045-7758 Impact factor: 2.912
FIGURE 1The Cameroon Sunbird (Cyanomitra oritis) feeding on Impatiens sakeriana. © Štěpán Janeček
FIGURE 2Target mountains and islands: 1/Sao Tomé; 2/Principe; 3/Bioko; 4/Mt. Cameroon; 5/Cameroon Mts.; 6/Crystal Mts.; 7/Massif du Chaillu; 8/Ethiopian Highlands; 9/Mt. Elgon; 10/Mt. Kenya; 11/Aberdare Mts.; 12/Mt. Kilimanjaro; 13/Ngorongoro; 14/Nguru Mts.; 15/Ukaguru Mts.; 16/Uluguru Mts.; 17/Udzungwa Mts.; 18/Mahange; 19/Chimanimani Mts
FIGURE 3Relationships between spur lengths in Impatiens and bill lengths in Sunbird assemblages. Maximum, mean, and minimum values are compared separately for forest and nonforest sunbird assemblages
The correlations between Impatiens spur lengths and bill lengths of sunbirds in individual communities
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| Forest sunbird species | ||||
| Maximal lengths | 19 | .489 | .029 | .054 |
| Average lengths | 23 | .4456 | .030 | .039 |
| Minimal lengths | 17 | .434 | .073 | .108 |
| Nonforest sunbird species | ||||
| Maximal lengths | 20 | −.613 | .003 | .080 |
| Average lengths | 23 | −.522 | .009 | .058 |
| Minimal lengths | 21 | −.253 | .257 | .271 |
We considered either sunbird forest or nonforest communities.
Abbreviation: p sc, spatially corrected p value.
FIGURE 4(a) Relationships between maximum bill length values of sunbirds and (i) the second longest spur (filled circle; spatially corrected p = .184), (ii) the third longest spur (open circle, dashed line; spatially corrected p = .007) in Impatiens assemblages. (b) Relationships between maximum spur lengths in Impatiens plants and (i) the second longest bill (filled circle; spatially corrected p = .216), (ii) the third longest bill (open circle; spatially corrected p = .68) in the sunbird assemblages