Influence of plant-pollinator interactions on the assembly of plant and hummingbird communities

Understanding how ecological processes structure species assemblages is a central issue in community ecology. While the influence of plant–pollinator interactions on each other's evolution is well recognized, their role in the assembly of interdependent communities of plants and pollinators is still unclear. Using data from seven communities of hummingbirds and plants that they pollinate from two tropical rain forest types (lowland and montane), we evaluated phylogenetic relationships and signal of functional traits, over space and time, to test predictions on the main processes (environmental filtering, facilitation or competition) that are driving these hummingbird–plant assemblages. Our findings suggest that the main processes driving these assemblages varied between hummingbirds and plants and between habitats, and even among communities at the same habitat. The non-conserved floral trait and the phylogenetic patterns (even or random) give support to the hypothesis of facilitation...解析生态过程如何塑造物种类群的组装机制，是群落生态学的核心研究议题。尽管植物与传粉者间的相互作用对彼此演化的影响已得到广泛认知，但二者在植物与传粉者相互依存群落组装过程中所扮演的角色仍未明确。 本研究依托两类热带雨林生境（低地与山地）中7组蜂鸟及其传粉植物的群落数据，从空间与时间维度解析系统发育关系（phylogenetic relationships）与功能性状（functional traits）信号，以检验驱动这些蜂鸟-植物组合群落的核心过程（环境过滤（environmental filtering）、促进作用（facilitation）或竞争作用（competition））相关预测假说。 研究结果表明，驱动此类类群组装的核心过程在蜂鸟与植物之间、不同生境之间，乃至同一生境下的不同群落间均存在差异。花部性状（floral trait）的非保守性与系统发育模式（phylogenetic patterns，均匀型或随机型）为促进作用假说提供了支持……