Data for: Integration of an invasive plant in hummingbird and flower mite networks is driven by ecological fitting and generalization
Data files
Jun 23, 2025 version files 26.48 KB
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A_Data_Hand_infloresc_Musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023.csv
215 B
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B_Matrix_humming_plants_Dec_02_2023.csv
2 KB
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C_Matrix_flower_mite_plants_2024.csv
1.36 KB
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D_hummingbird_connections_pairs_of_plants.csv
3.89 KB
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E_Routes_to_Musa_Velutina.csv
410 B
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F_Hummingbird_visits_musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023.csv
11.24 KB
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G_Number_mites_per_flower_May_2024.csv
862 B
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README.md
6.50 KB
Abstract
Most plant communities worldwide include exotic plants, which did not evolve with local organisms. The central goal of this study is to test if native organisms expanding to novel hosts are usually generalists or specialists. Here we studied a new association between hummingbirds, flower mites, and Musa velutina (Musaceae), an exotic plant native to Asia currently invading lowland forests in Costa Rica. Hummingbirds are pollinators, but flower mites feed on nectar without contributing to pollen transfer. Flower mites hitch rides on hummingbird beaks to colonize new flowers. To determine the original diet breadth of hummingbird and flower mite species, we assembled interaction networks including 33 native host plants, 14 hummingbird and 19 flower mite species. Transportation analyses show that flower mites’ colonization of native or exotic hosts is not constrained by hummingbird flight connections. We identified four hummingbird species visiting Musa velutina. DNA barcode analyses identified only one species of flower mite colonizing flowers of M. velutina. All new associations with M. velutina involved generalist hummingbird and flower mite species. Musa velutina displays both male and female flowers. Although flowers of both sexes were equally visited by hummingbirds, mites were 15 times more abundant in male flowers than in female flowers. This might be the result of constant immigration coupled with population growth. Only half of the mites hitching rides on hummingbird beaks and emigrate to newly opened flowers. Our results show that M. velutina integration into a plant community occurs mainly by establishing interactions with generalists.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5t1
Description of the data and file structure
Garcia-Robledo_Alvarado_Readme file generated on 2024-Oct-12
GENERAL INFORMATION
Date of data collection: 2023-2024
Geographic location of data collection: La Selva Biological Station, Puerto Viejo, Sarapaqui, Costa Rica
DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
File list
- A_Data_Hand_infloresc_Musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023.csv: number of female and male hands in inflorescences of Musa velutina.
- B_Matrix_humming_plants_Dec_02_2023.csv: Qualitative interaction matrix, presence/absence of hummingbird species visiting each plant species
- C_Matrix_flower_mite_plants_2024.csv: Qualitative interaction matrix, presence/absence of flower mite species visiting each plant species
- D_hummingbird connections pairs of plants.csv: Number of hummingbird species shared by each pair of host plants included in this study. Data are repeated above and below the diagonal.
- E_Routes to_Musa_Velutina.csv: Sum of the number of hummingbird species shared by each native host of each flower mite with Musa velutina.
- F_Hummingbird_visits_musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023: Number of visits per flower by each hummingbird species. This dataset also includes the sex of the flower and the number of mites embarking or disembarking in each visit.
- G_Number_mites_per_flower_May_2024.csv: Number of flower mites recorded inside female and male flowers.
Variables and information
A_Data_Hand_infloresc_Musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023.csv:
Number of variables: 3
Number of cases/rows: 21
Plant: unique identifier for each inflorescence
N_female_hands: count of female hands
N_male_hands: count of male hands
B_Matrix_humming_plants_Dec_02_2023.csv
Number of variables: 14
Number of cases/rows: 35
Rows: plant species
Columns: hummingbird species
C_Matrix_flower_mite_plants_2024.csv
Number of variants: 19
Number of cases/rows: 18
Rows: plant species
Columns: hummingbird flower mite species
D_hummingbird connections pairs of plants.csv
Number of variants: 35
Number of cases/rows: 35
Rows: plant species
Columns: plant species
E_Routes to_Musa_Velutina.csv
Number of variants: 2
Number of cases/rows: 19
Mite species: MOTU assigned to each mite species
Direct routes to Musa velutina: The sum of the number of hummingbird species connecting native hosts to Musa velutina
F_Hummingbird_visits_musa_velutina_Oct_24_2023.csv
Number of variants: 6
Number of cases/rows: 332
Plant: individual identifier
Sex: M = male, F = female
Number_flowers: count of the number of flowers in the hand
Hummingbird_species: hummingbird identification
Number_mites_arriving: count of mites running from the beak to the flower
Number_mites_leaving: count of mites running from the flower to the beak
G_Number_mites_per_flower_May_2024.csv
Number of variants: 3
Number of cases/rows: 74
Flower_sex: M = male, F = female
Flower_number: flower unique identifier
Number_mites: count of flower mites
Access information
Data was derived from the following sources:
- Bizzarri, L. (2020). Mirroring Antagonistic and Mutualistic Interactions Give Rise to Shifts in Network Architecture Among Hummingbirds, Phoretic Mites, and Tropical Flowers. Master's Thesis 1467. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut.
- Colwell, R. K. (1995). Effects of nectar consumption by the hummingbird flower mite Proctolaelaps kirmsei on nectar availability in Hamelia patens. Biotropica, 206-217.
- Dearborn, D. C. (1998). Interspecific Territoriality by a Rufous‐Tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl): Effects of Intruder Size and Resource Value 1. Biotropica, 30(2), 306-313.
- Garrison, J. (1995). Traplining, foraging behavior in a tropical hummingbird species, Phaetornis superciliosus. Master's Thesis. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia
- Gill, F. B. (1987). Ecological fitting: use of floral nectar in Heliconia stilesii Daniels by three species of hermit hummingbirds. The condor, 89(4), 779-787.
- Gill, F. B., Mack, A. L., & Ray, R. T. (1982). Competition between hermit hummingbirds Phaethorninae and insects for nectar in a Costa Rican rain forest. Ibis, 124(1), 44-49.
- Kay, K. M., & Schemske, D. W. (2003). Pollinator assemblages and visitation rates for 11 species of Neotropical Costus (Costaceae). Biotropica, 35(2), 198-207.
- Linhart, Y. B. (1973). Ecological and behavioral determinants of pollen dispersal in hummingbird-pollinated Heliconia. The American Naturalist, 107(956), 511-523.
- Maglianesi, M. A., Blüthgen, N., Böhning-Gaese, K., & Schleuning, M. (2014). Morphological traits determine specialization and resource use in plant–hummingbird networks in the neotropics. Ecology, 95(12), 3325-3334.
- McDade, L. A., & Weeks, J. A. (2004). Nectar in hummingbird‐pollinated neotropical plants I: patterns of production and variability in 12 species. Biotropica, 36(2), 196-215.
- Neill, D. A. (1987). Trapliners in the trees: hummingbird pollination of Erythrina sect. Erythrina (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 27-41.
- Primack, R. B., & Howe, H. F. (1975). Interference competition between a hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) and skipper butterflies (Hesperiidae). Biotropica, 55-58.
- Sanfiorenzo, A., Sanfiorenzo, M., Castro, R. V., Waits, L., & Finegan, B. (2018). Potential pollinators of understory populations of Symphonia globulifera in the Neotropics. Journal of Pollination Ecology, 22, 1-10.
- Stiles, F. G. (1975). Ecology, flowering phenology, and hummingbird pollination of some Costa Rican Heliconia species. Ecology, 56(2), 285-301.
- Stiles, F. G. (1978). Temporal organization of flowering among the hummingbird foodplants of a tropical wet forest. Biotropica, 194-210.
- Stiles, F. G. (1980). The annual cycle in a tropical wet forest hummingbird community. Ibis, 122(3), 322-343.
- Stiles, F. G., & Wolf, L. L. (1979). Ecology and evolution of lek mating behavior in the long-tailed hermit hummingbird. Ornithological monographs, (27), iii-78.
- Stone, Judy L. (1994). Pollen transfer and the evolution of distyly: tests of a model. PhD Dissertation. Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Hummingbird plant interactions were recorded by combining data collected in this study with published records. Hummingbird flower mite interactions with host plants were identified by sequencing the DNA barcode CO1. Hummingbird visits to Musa velutina (Musaceae) were recorded using camera traps.