Relation between variation in the availability of nectar of a keystone species and the abundance and richness of floral visitors in a Cerrado afforested area

• Grant number: 17/27177-9
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal researcher: Felipe Wanderley de Amorim
• Grantee: Caio Simões Ballarin
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Nectar is the main floral reward produced by angiosperms to pollinators, and can be consumed by both vertebrates and invertebrates. The temporal variation in nectar availability can affect the population dynamics and phenology of pollinators, which in turn are able to respond even to small variations in nectar production. Species with generalist pollination systems, nectar is the main resource responsible for attracting a wide variety of floral visitors. Species of the genus Inga (Fabaceae) produce flowers with brush-like morphology that secrete copious amounts of nectar, and are visited by many animal groups, including vertebrates and invertebrates of both diurnal and nocturnal. Inga vera is a mass flowering species widely used in restoration programs in Brazil. Since habitat restoration in biodiversity hotspots should also include the restoration of pollination services, it is important to understand the role of a keystone species on the dynamics of the local fauna pollinators as well as its indirect effects on the pollination of sympatric species. In this sense the aim of this study is to test whether the flowering and nectar production of a population of Inga vera affect the richness and abundance of bees, hummingbirds and hawkmoths in a restoration area of Cerrado, also, to test whether the flowering of I. vera produces indirect effects on sympatric hummingbird-pollinated species. To accomplish this, we will analyze the relationship between nectar production and the richness and abundance of floral visitors, and conduct an experiment with feeders to test the occurrence of indirect effects of I. vera on the visitation frequency of sympatric species.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

HACHUY-FILHO, LEANDRO; BALLARIN, CAIO S.; AMORIM, FELIPE W. Changes in plant community structure and decrease in floral resource availability lead to a high temporal beta-diversity of plant-bee interactions. ARTHROPOD-PLANT INTERACTIONS, v. 14, n. 5 JUL 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.

RODRIGUES, GABRIEL FELLIPE B.; BALLARIN, CAIO S.; FRANSOZO, ADILSON; AMORIM, FELIPE W. Structural patterns of a coastal hermit crab-gastropod shell interaction network: new insights from a unique relationship. MARINE ECOLOGY-PROGRESS SERIES, v. 640, p. 117-126, APR 23 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.

BALLARIN, CAIO S.; HACHUY-FILHO, LEANDRO; SANZ-VEIGA, PRISCILA A.; AMORIM, FELIPE W. The resource-mediated modular structure of a non-symbiotic ant-plant mutualism. ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, v. 45, n. 1 JULY 2019. Web of Science Citations: 0.