Patios for hummingbirds: First steps to restore the native plant-hummingbird interaction in Cordoba city, Argentina

DIAZ VELEZ MARIA CELESTE; SILVA WESLEY RODRIGUES; CALVIÑO ANA ALEJANDRA

Foz de Iguazu

Conferencia; VII World Conference on Ecological Restoration, V Congreso Iberoamericano y del Caribe de Restauración Ecológica, I Conferência Brasileira de Restauração Ecológica; 2017

SER / SOBRE / SIACRE

Conservation of ecological interactions among native species is one of the biggest challenges in the face of worldwide increasingurbanization. Native vegetation is typically reduced compared with exotic vegetation in urban environments. Nevertheless, somenectarivorous birds feed preferentially on urban native plants. Here, we addressed hummingbird visitation to native and exoticflowering species in urban domestic backyards (patios) in Cordoba city, Argentina. Three-hour sample periods were performedin each ?patio? from early spring to late summer (total sampling effort: 135 hours). Chlorostilbon aureoventris performed 92% ofthe visits, followed by Sappho sparganura (7%) and Heliomaster furcifer (1%). An exotic Bignoniaceae (Campsis radicans) was themost visited by C. aureoventris, and S. sparganura fed exclusively in Pyrostegia venusta, another exotic Bignoniaceae. Despitethe overall higher preference for exotic Bignoniaceae, a seasonal switch in C. aureoventris feeding behavior was observed. Inspring, when only the 6% of the flowering plants were native, half of the visits were registered on native species. In summer,however, when 40% of the flowering species were native, visits were mainly registered on exotic flowers. The profuse floweringof exotic ornamental plants in summer may have counterbalanced its relative abundance compared with native species. Giventhat the native Bignoniaceae Dolichandra cynanchoides depends strongly on hummingbirds for setting seeds, a program for thereintroduction of this species is proposed to restore the interaction between hummingbirds and native species in Cordoba city.