Bird Pollinator Visitation is Equivalent in Island and Plantation Planting Designs in Tropical Forest Restoration Sites

Catherine A. Lindell and Ginger M. Thurston
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Catherine A. Lindell: Zoology Department, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Ln. Rm. 203, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Ginger M. Thurston: Plant Biology Department, Michigan State University, 612 Wilson Rd. Rm. 166, East Lansing MI 48824, USA

Sustainability, 2013, vol. 5, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: Active restoration is one strategy to reverse tropical forest loss. Given the dynamic nature of climates, human populations, and other ecosystem components, the past practice of using historical reference sites as restoration targets is unlikely to result in self-sustaining ecosystems. Restoring sustainable ecological processes like pollination is a more feasible goal. We investigated how flower cover, planting design, and landscape forest cover influenced bird pollinator visits to Inga edulis trees in young restoration sites in Costa Rica. I. edulis trees were located in island plantings, where seedlings had been planted in patches, or in plantation plantings, where seedlings were planted to cover the restoration area. Sites were located in landscapes with scant (10–21%) or moderate (35–76%) forest cover. Trees with greater flower cover received more visits from pollinating birds; neither planting design nor landscape forest cover influenced the number of pollinator visits. Resident hummingbirds and a migratory bird species were the most frequent bird pollinators. Pollination in the early years following planting may not be as affected by details of restoration design as other ecological processes like seed dispersal. Future work to assess the quality of various pollinator species will be important in assessing this idea.

Keywords: birds; Costa Rica; ecosystem service; hummingbird; Neotropical migrant; pollination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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