Data from: The role of the endemic and critically endangered Colorful Puffleg Eriocnemis mirabilis in plant-hummingbird networks of the Colombian Andes

Ecological network approaches may contribute to conservation practices by
quantifying within-community importance of species. In mutualistic
plant-pollinator systems, such networks reflect potential pollination of
the plants and a considerable portion of the energy consumption by the
pollinators, two key components for each party. Here, we used two
different sampling approaches to describe mutualistic plant-hummingbird
networks from a cloud forest in the Colombian Western Andes, home to the
Colorful Puffleg Eriocnemis mirabilis, an endemic and critically
endangered hummingbird. We contrast networks between two localities (a
protected area inside a National park vs. its buffer zone) and across
sampling methods (floral visitation vs. pollen loads) to assess how the
network structure and the importance of each hummingbird species within
the networks may change. Visitation networks were characterized as having
higher sampling completeness, yet pollen load network recorded more pollen
types than plant species recorded by visitation. Irrespective of the
sampling methods, the Colorful Puffleg was one of the most important
hummingbird species in the network within the protected area inside the
National park, but not in the buffer zone. Moreover, most species-level
network indices were related to hummingbirds’ abundance. This suggests
that conservation initiatives aimed at the endangered Colorful Puffleg may
both help on the survival of this endangered hummingbird, as well as on
maintaining its key role in the mutualistic interaction network inside the
National Park. Our study illustrates how conservation practitioners could
assess the local importance of endangered species using interaction
network approaches.