(Flowering phenology and pollination of ornitophilous bromeliads in the campo rupestre of Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil). Hummingbirds are the major pollinators of bromeliads and the sequential flowering can potentially provide the maintenance of their local populations. In this study we investigated the phenological flowering strategies and the floral visitors of five ornitophilous bromeliads on the high altitude rocky field (campos rupestres) areas of the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. Flowering phenology data were collected in monthly monitored individuals, from July 2006 to December 2007. Floral visitors were recorded by naturalistic observations from February 2002 to December 2003 and from July 2006 to December 2007. Most species flowered at the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season, but Hohenbergia ramageana Mez showed continuous flowering. The community showed a sequential and continuous flowering, providing feeding resources for the maintenance of pollinators in the area throughout the year. Six hummingbirds, the perching bird, and three species of bees visited the bromeliads flowers. Chlorostilbon lucidus (Shaw, 1812), Phaethornis pretrei (Lesson & Delattre, 1839), and Coereba flaveola (Linnaeus, 1759) were their major pollinators. Neoregelia bahiana (Ule) L. B. Sm., with its long corolla tube is the most specialized species, and P. pretrei was its only pollinator, while H. ramageana, with its short corolla tube is the most generalist, considered an important resource for the hummingbirds of the area.
bromeliads; Espinhaço Range; hummingbirds; ornithophily
