XVI International Botanical Congess

We compared hummingbird- and bat-pollinated plant assemblages at two altitudinal ranges in the Atlantic forest. The species richness decreases as altitude increases. Bromeliads are the most species-rich plant group in both assemblages. The plant populations bloom mostly once a year and the assemblages present staggered continual flowering pattern. Hermit hummingbirds are the main pollinators of the bird-pollinated assemblages, whereas the bat-pollinated ones are mostly pollinated by glossophagine bats. The ratio between bird- and bat-pollinated species is 0.24 in the lowlands and 0.23 in the highlands. These close values may indicate a trend and we think that further studies on bird- and bat-pollinated assemblages at other sites of the Atlantic forest are worthwhile.