[Pollinator] Researchers Study Effects Of Forest Fragmentation On Hummingbird Behavior

Thu Nov 7 06:06:34 PST 2013

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The Daily Barometer: Researchers Study Effects Of Forest Fragmentation On  
Hummingbird Behavior
The Daily Barometer | Nov. 06, 2013 2:36 a.m. | Updated: Nov. 06,  2013 
10:55 a.m.  
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Contributed By:

Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova

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Hummingbirds flitting through the fragmented forests of Costa Rica have  
caught the attention of Oregon State University researchers. 
Matthew Betts and Adam Hadley of the Betts Laboratory and the College of  
Forestry are both landscape ecologists whose research has primarily revolved  
around birds. 
Betts and Hadley investigate the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation 
of  species across 37 distinct isolated patches of forest in Costa Rica, 
seeking an  understanding of how forest fragmentation affects pollination 
services. 
Hummingbirds take on the role of “the pollinator,” wherein there exists a  
careful plant and pollinator interaction. The major goal of the group’s 
research  is to examine how landscape changes are affecting the hummingbirds  
as pollinators. 
The research involves a translocation study to see what the difference was  
between hummingbird’s journey across forests that were either fragmented  
or not. 
“Interestingly, we discovered that the hummingbirds arrived at their  
pollination sites in the exact same amount of time, which is kind of amazing,”  
said Sarah Frey-Hadley, a doctoral researcher and logistical coordinator of 
the  hummingbird research within the Betts lab. 
The research team found that when the hummingbirds were traveling within 
the  fragmented forests, the birds elected to take a considerably squigglier 
route to  arrive at their final destination in order to avoid crossing large 
open gaps of  forest patches. 
“It shows that forest fragmentation does indeed alter the hummingbirds’  
movement patterns,” Frey-Hadley said. 
The Betts team also will collect the stiles (female part of the plant) of 
the  heliconia flower, a bright red inflorescence that the hummingbird is 
highly  attracted to for its beauty, nectar and shape. 
Hadley discovered that overall seed sets (the number of seeds produced by  
flowers) were lower in the smaller, more fragmented forest patches than in  
non-fragmented patches. 
The data implies that there’s some limitation occurring. 
Hadley hypothesized that it’s potentially the quality of the pollen that’s 
 being brought to the smaller forest patches by the hummingbirds, and 
perhaps the  hummingbirds may not be visiting as many plants, fostering 
less-diverse pollen  for the flowers — due to the fact that the hummingbirds do not 
want to cross the  largely exposed patches of forest. 
Partnering with the Organization for Tropical Studies and Las Cruzas  
Biological Station in Costa Rica, Hadley began carrying out field research on  
the hummingbird project with the Betts Lab in 2008 at the start of  his Ph.D. 
At that time, the group proved to be successful pioneers in placing the 
very  first VHF radio transmitters on the hummingbirds to monitor their 
pollination  routes in Costa Rica. 
“No one even knew it worked at the time,” Hadley said. “We needed a large  
pollinator for the size of the transmitter. We couldn’t just place a 
transmitter  on a tiny little bee … and from this collected data, we could then 
investigate a  lot of the pollination concerns, which relates to systems here, 
like the  pollination activity of bumblebees.” 
Data from the radio transmitters has provided the group with the ability to 
 track the actual movements of the hummingbirds, whereas with most 
pollinators,  until recently, researchers had not been able to track  movement 
patterns. 
“The information we’ve collected informs on a lot of the processes, which 
are  important over larger areas, like the forest and agricultural systems 
we have  here, locally,” Hadley said. 
In addition to radio transmitters, Betts research team member Evan Jackson, 
a  doctoral candidate, has recently implemented the use of RFID tags or “PIT
” tags  on the hummingbirds. 
The tags are about the size of a grain of rice. It’s the same technology 
that  people use with pet microchips. Jackson investigates what kind of 
habitats the  hummingbirds will or won’t use. 
The Betts research team facilitates an educational outreach project with 11 
 local Corvallis schools. 
“The conservation of natural habitats is important to be made aware (of),” 
 Hadley said. “When habitats are altered or disturbed, we see the affect it 
has  on the hummingbirds, but also on the plants that they are responsible  
for pollinating.” 
Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova 
Science reporter 
managing at dailybarometer.com 

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