Multiple ecological interactions: nectar robbers and hummingbirds in a highland forest in Mexico

Abstract

Nectar robbers are animals that extract the nectar produced by plants without effecting pollination. These animals can have negative, positive, or neutral effects on the interaction, depending on the direct and indirect effects of each participant in the system. The purpose of this work was to analyze the prevalence of nectar robbing and its temporal dynamics in a tropical highland forest in western Mexico. The system was studied in terms of the seasonal changes in (i) specific composition and abundance of hummingbird pollinators, their hosts, and the nectar robbers, (ii) use of resources by the nectarivorous birds and flowers, and (iii) prevalence of flower piercing by the cinnamon flowerpiercer, Diglossa baritula. The guild consisted of 17 species of hummingbirds, 2 species of nectar robbers, and 21 plant species that were visited by nectarivorous birds (robbers and pollinators). The relative abundance of birds and available flowers showed two peaks, one in winter and the other in the rainy season. Some plant species were used more than expected from their abundance. Overlap in the use of flowers among hummingbirds and also between hummingbirds and the nectar robbers was high. Nectar robbing was found to be widespread, occurring in almost all of the plants known to be hummingbird pollinated. The ratio of hummingbirds to nectar robbers was around 10 throughout the year.