Trends in Nectar Concentration and Hummingbird Visitation: Investigating different variables in three flowers of the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest: Guzmania jaramilloi, Gasteranthus quitensis, and Besleria solanoides

Many variables affect hummingbird visitation to flowers, including nectar concentration, time of day, corolla length and other aspects of flower morphology, and elevation. Nectar concentration was measured from flowers of three Ecuadorian subtropical montane species: Guzmania jaramilloi, Gasteranthus quitensis, and Besleria solanoides. Concentration values were compared across varying times of day, corolla lengths, and elevations to determine the effects of these variables on flower nectar concentration. Camera traps were also used to observe hummingbird visitation to the above three flower species. After running regression and ANOVA analyses, nectar concentration was found to be positively correlated with time of day, negatively correlated with corolla length, and negatively correlated with elevation. Additionally, both flower morphology and elevation were determined to affect the species of hummingbirds that visited each flower species