4.1 Article

Nectar characteristics of hummingbird-visited ornithophilous and non-ornithophilous flowers from Cerrado, Brazil

期刊

PLANT SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION
卷 307, 期 6, 页码 -

出版社

SPRINGER WIEN
DOI: 10.1007/s00606-021-01790-z

关键词

Brazilian savanna; Fructose; Glucose; Sucrose; Trochilidae

资金

  1. CAPES-SPU-Study Mission Program (Brazil-Argentina)
  2. SECyT-UNC
  3. FONCyT
  4. CONICET
  5. CNPq [302781/2016-1]

向作者/读者索取更多资源

The nectar traits of flowers visited by hummingbirds in the Cerrado region did not differ significantly between ornithophilous and non-ornithophilous species. Most sampled species had sucrose-rich nectar, with a similar energy content between ornithophilous and chiropterophilous flower nectars. The sugar composition of nectar from ornithophilous flowers closely resembled that of sucrose-rich entomophilous flowers, indicating hummingbirds' flexibility in selecting nectar sources in the resource-fluctuating environment of the Cerrado.
Hummingbirds in the Cerrado, the seasonal savannas in Central Brazil, visit both ornithophilous and non-ornithophilous flowers to collect nectar, which is the main source of energy and nutrients to these pollinators. The aim of the present study was to assess the volume, concentration, energy content and sugar composition of nectar collected from 34 hummingbird-visited flower species. We expect that nectar traits of non-ornithophilous species visited by hummingbirds are similar to those of ornithophilous species. Nectar samples were collected from different plant formations in the Cerrado region at Panga Ecological Station, Uberlandia City, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Samples were obtained from 19 ornithophilous, 10 entomophilous and five chiropterophilous species. Nectar traits, such as volume, sugar concentration and energy content, did not significantly differ between ornithophilous and non-ornithophilous flowers. However, about 80% of the sampled species had sucrose-rich nectar, whereas other species, mainly chiropterophilous, had hexose-rich nectar. Overall, ornithophilous and chiropterophilous flower nectars shared similar energy content. On the other hand, the sugar-chemical composition of nectar from ornithophilous flowers was more similar to that of sucrose-rich entomophilous flowers. There is broad consensus that the nectar in flowers of hummingbird-pollinated species is rich in sucrose. However, hummingbirds visit several savanna plant species unrelated to the ornithophilous pollination syndrome. This trend indicates that hummingbirds show plasticity in selecting plant nectar sources when feeding, mainly in resource-fluctuating environments such as the Cerrado.

作者

我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。

评论

主要评分

4.1
评分不足

次要评分

新颖性
-
重要性
-
科学严谨性
-
评价这篇论文

推荐

暂无数据
暂无数据