Data from: Bimodal pollination systems in Andean Melastomataceae involving birds, bats and rodents

Floral adaptation to a single most effective functional pollinator group
leads to specialized pollination syndromes. However, adaptations allowing
for pollination by two functional groups (bimodal pollination systems)
remain a conundrum rarely investigated. We tested if floral scent and
nectar traits of species visited by two functional pollinator groups
indicate specialization on either one of the two or (intermediate) bimodal
systems. We studied pollination biology in four species of Meriania
(Melastomataceae) in the Ecuadorian Andes. Pollinator observations and
exclusion experiments showed that each species was effectively pollinated
by two functional groups (hummingbirds/bats; hummingbirds/rodents;
flowerpiercers/rodents), nectar composition followed known bird
preferences and scent profiles gave mixed support for specialization on
bats and rodents. Our results suggest that nectar rewarding Meriania
species have evolved stable bimodal pollination strategies with parallel
adaptations to two functional pollinator groups. The discovery of rodent
pollination is particularly important given its rarity outside of South
Africa.