Table 8.1. Frequencies (% of species) of 13 pollination systems of Monteverde flowering plants, by growth form
and sexual system.Pollination
System Epiphytes
Bat
Bird
Hawkmoth
Other moth
Butterfly
Beetle
Fly
Large bee
Small bee
Bee (undesignated)
Other insects^6
Wind
Other mammals
No. of species2.8
24.8
10.9
1.5
2.8
2.5
0
5.3
2.5
7.4
37.3
1.9
0.3
322Herbs
0.3
13.4
0.6
0.3
2.7
2.4
0.3
12.8
14.3
15.8
30.3
6.8
0
336Vines
and
Lianas
2.8
6.6
1.0
1.9
2.2
11.3
1.0
18.6
5.0
11.6
35.2
2.8
0
318Shrubs
0.8
6.7
1.1
0.8
5.1
0.3
0
7.2
21.1
24.6
26.7
5.6
0
374All
Trees
1.6
1.4
6.7
10.5
0.6
2.3
0.1
7.1
15.1
12.6
35.8
6.2
0
706Canopy
Trees^3
1.6
1.0
7.2
9.4
0
1.6
0
6.8
16.2
10.6
39.8
5.8
0
500Dioecious
Canopy
Treesb
0
0
2.9
4.3
0
0
0
2.9
21.8
10.1
45.0
13.0
0
138All
Dioecious
Species^0
0
0.7
3.9
4.9
1.6
0.3
0
1.3
16.1
9.5
47.6
14.1
0
305All
Angio-
spermsd
1.6
8.8
4.4
4.3
2.4
3.4
0.24
9.5
12.5
14.4
33.4
5.0
0.05
2056No. of
species
33
181
91
89
48
69
5
196
258
295
687
103
1
2056
a A subcategory of All Trees.
b A subcategory (medium and large trees in Appendix 1) of All Trees.
c A subcategory of All Angiosperms.
d Includes native plant species for which Appendix 1 identifies or predicts the pollination system, except Orchidaceae (approximately 450 species) and
nonforeste Cyperaceae and Poaceae (29 and 66 wind-pollinated herbs and grasses, respectively).
"Small diverse insects" in text.Bats In Monteverde, seven species of bats are pri-
marily nectarivorous (see Chap. 7, Mammals). Bats
pollinate 33 Monteverde plant species in 10 families
(Table 8.1), particularly Marcgraviaceae, Bombaca-
ceae, Bignoniaceae, and Cactaceae. The plants are
primarily epiphytes, vines, and trees whose flowers
tend to occur high in the canopy. Research is needed
on nectar characteristics, floral and animal structures,
how bats locate flowers, the effectiveness of pollen
delivery, the identity of pollen on bats, and the de-
gree to which flowers visited by bats depend on them
for pollination.
Birds TJi e Mon te verd e fl ora conforms to Cru d en's
(1972) prediction that a relatively high proportion
of plant species in tropical montane ecosystems are
pollinated by birds; nearly 9% of the Monteverde
flora is bird pollinated (Table 8.1), compared to ap-
proximately 4% at La Selva (Bawa 1990). Humming-
birds, the predominant bird pollinators in montane
Central America, forage diurnally, usually hover-
ing to sip nectar. The flowers they visit tend to be
brightly colored, odorless, and tubular (Proctor et al.
1996).
The rich Monteverde hummingbird fauna includes
two relatively distinct guilds (groups of functionally
similar species that use a common resource in the
same way; Feinsinger et al. 1986, 1987; see Busby,
"Hummingbird Pollination," pp. 267-268). Members
of the long-billed guild (e.g., hermits such as Phae-
thornis guy) have distinctly curved, long bills which
fit the curved tubular flowers they visit. They forage
in regular routes over large areas, visiting individual
plants that often produce only a few flowers daily. In
contrast, members of the short-billed guild (e.g.,
Lampornis calolaema) have straight short bills which
fit short, straight, tubular flowers. They also forage on
regular routes but tend to cover smaller areas and to
visit plant species that produce more flowers each
day. Some short-billed birds display territorial behav-
ior at dense floral displays (see Busby, "Hummingbird
Pollination," pp. 267-268). Hummingbird-pollinated
plants also form two guilds, which correspond to the
two guilds of birds (Feinsinger et al. 1986).
Nearly half of Monteverde's 181 hummingbird-
pollinated plant species (which comprise 60 genera
in 28 families] are epiphytes (80 species); the families
Bromeliaceae, Gesneriaceae, and Ericaceae are espe-
cially well represented (Appendix 1). Bird-pollinated
plants are herbs, vines, or shrubs (e.g., Acanthaceae),
and a few are small trees. Hummingbird-pollinated
canopy trees are rare. In seven monocot genera and
three monocot families, every species in Monteverde
is hummingbird pollinated. As in lowland forests,
many of the herbs and shrubs pollinated by humming-
birds are members of the Acanthaceae, Heliconiaceae,
and Costaceae. Monteverde's hummingbird-plant as-
sociations have stimulated a diverse body of inves-
tigations (Feinsinger 1976, 1978, 1987, Feinsinger
et al. 1986, 1987, 1988a,b, 1991, 1992, Lackie et al.
1986, Feinsinger and Busby 1987, Linhart et al. 1987a,247 Plant-Animal Interactions