An ecosystem where most flowers are long and bell sharps. There are two varieties of hummingbirds birds with short, beaks and birds with long beaks. What is the most likely hummingbird population composition
1 answer
In this ecosystem, it is likely that the hummingbird population composition would reflect the shape of the flowers. The hummingbirds with short beaks would be adept at accessing the nectar of the long, bell-shaped flowers, while the hummingbirds with long beaks would have an advantage in reaching the nectar of deeper flowers. Therefore, it is possible that there would be a mix of both short-beaked and long-beaked hummingbirds in the population, with a higher proportion of each type of hummingbird based on the prevalence of their preferred flowers. The population may also exhibit some degree of resource partitioning, with short-beaked hummingbirds specializing in one type of flower and long-beaked hummingbirds specializing in another type of flower to reduce competition for resources.