Polinização, fenologia e distribuição espacial de Bromeliaceae numa comunidade de Mata Atlantica, litoral sul de São Paulo

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

1994

RESUMO

The pollination biology, flowering and fruiting phenology, dispersal mode, and spatial distribution of bromeliad species was studied in four habitats at the Rio Verde estuary in the Atlantic rainforest in SE Brazil. Seventeen bromeliad species are pollinated by humming birds, two are bat-pollinated, and one is pollinated by bumblebees. Most bromeliad species fIower during the wet season (September to March), when blooming periods are shorter than during the dry season (April to August) when few species are in fIower. The hermit hummingbird Ramphodon naevius is the only pollen vector that visited flowers of Bromeliaceae throughout the year, being the main pollinator resource to the studied bromeliad community. This hummingbird features a long bill (35 mm), which allow its expIotation of long-corolla fIowers (>30 mm). The short-billed (17-21 mm) hummingbirds Thalurania glaucopis, Melanotrochilus fuscus and Hylocharis cyanus visit only short-corolla fIowers(<30 mm). The average sugar concentration in nectar is positively correlated (P<0,00l) with corolla length. Hummingbird-pollinated bromeliad fIowers place pollen Ioads on different parts of the vector?s body: bill, throat, and crown. The Bromeliaceae species using the same pollinator species and whose pollen is placed on the same part of the hummingbird´s body bloom sequentially. On the other hand, ornithophilous species which place pollen loads in different parts of the pollinator´s body present wide overlap in their flowering seasons. Only three bromeliad species flowering during the dry season use the same pollinator species and all three place pollen on their bills. Therefore, these data indicate spatial and temporal partitioning of the pollinator resource among the Bromeliaceae. In addition, the long-billed hermit R. naevius appear to use mainly bromeliad flowers as food sources in the Atlantic rainforest. The highest number of bromeliad individuals was recorded in the Riparian Forest (FR) habitat followed, in decreasing order, by the Restinga Scrub (RE), Rocky Shore (CR), and Dense Canopy Forest (FD) habitats. Bird-dispersed Bromelioideae occupy exposed microsites at higher elevations in the canopy in FR and FD than their relatives dispersed by mammals. Terrestrial species exhibit similar combinations of light requirements and seed vectors, and occur only in open sites in RE and CR. The Bromelioideae species dispersed by similar vectors in same habitats fruit sequentially along the year. Species of Tillandsioideae are wind-dispersed and occur in either shade or light conditions; the entire group releases seeds during the dry season. The kind of seed vector seems to be related to spatial distribution of Bromeliaceae species at the Rio Verde estuary

ASSUNTO(S)

plantas - fertilização bromeliacea - mata atlantica polinização beija-flor

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