The evolution, ecology, and conservation of hummingbirds and their interactions with flowering plants

• Published in: Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Vol. 97; no. 3; pp. 923 - 959
• Main Authors: Leimberger, Kara G., Dalsgaard, Bo, Tobias, Joseph A., Wolf, Christopher, Betts, Matthew G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2022
• Subjects: Animals; Biological evolution; Birds; Climate change; Coevolution; Conservation; Evolutionary conservation; Flowering; Flowering plants; Flowers; Habitat fragmentation; Habitat loss; Indigenous plants; interaction networks; Magnoliopsida; mutualism; Nectar; Plant Nectar; Plant reproduction; Plant species; Plants; Plants (botany); pollen dispersal; Pollination; pollination ecology; Pollinators; Population decline; specialization; Species extinction; species interactions; Threatened species; Trochilidae; pollination ecology; coevolution; species interactions; specialization; pollen dispersal; interaction networks; Trochilidae; mutualism

ABSTRACT The ecological co‐dependency between plants and hummingbirds is a classic example of a mutualistic interaction: hummingbirds rely on floral nectar to fuel their rapid metabolisms, and more than 7000 plant species rely on hummingbirds for pollination. However, threats to hummingbirds are mou...