Effects of habitat transformation on plant-pollinator interactions in temperate forests
Date:
FRANCISCO E. FONTÚRBEL, DANIELA A. SALAZAR, JORGE CORTÉS-MIRANDA AND CAREN VEGA-RETTER
The hummingbird Sephanoides sephaniodes is the most important pollinator of the Valdivian rainforest. The quintral (Tristerix corymbosus) is the main food source for the hummingbird during winter and, in turn, this bird is the main pollinator of this and many other forest plants. Despite the importance of S. sephaniodes as a pollinator, many aspects of its ecology and, particularly, its responses to habitat disturbance are still unknown. Taking advantage of the hummingbird-quintral interaction, the effect of the replacement of native forest by eucalyptus plantations on pollination was studied. The study was carried out in the Valdivian Coastal Reserve, where 70 plants were georeferenced, monitored and genotyped using microsatellites. Hummingbirds preferred large aggregations of quintrales in the plantations, increasing their visitation rates and decreasing the self-pollination rate. However, molecular analyses revealed high genetic structuring in the quintrales and low gene flow at the landscape scale, a product of the plantations. Habitat transformation changes the spatial structure of plants, influencing hummingbird behavior and altering gene flow. However, the long-term consequences of this phenomenon are still unknown.
Keywords: spatial structure, gene flow, abandoned plantations, Sephanoides sephaniodes, Valdivian Rainforest.