Research Interests
My research involves the ecology and evolution of plant-animal
interactions, with a focus on the mutualism between plants and pollinators. I am particularly interested in understanding
the factors that affect specialization and switches in pollination
systems. I work in the tropics, primarily
in cloud forests on the slopes of the Andes of Ecuador, and have focused on
pollination by bats and hummingbirds. In
my fieldwork, I combine observational and experimental techniques. My preferred approach involves controlled
flight cage experiments with wild-caught bats and natural or artificial
flowers. I am also using empirical
results from my fieldwork to develop mathematical models that can shed light on
large-scale and long-term interactions.
For example, a current project tracks the evolution of
floral traits
over multiple generations for plant species competing for pollinators.
See below for further details and photos of my research.
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Anoura geoffroyi pollinating Meriania sp. (Melastomataceae). See this page for a list of bat-pollinated flowers in Ecuadorian cloud forests, with photos and videos of each. |
| Anoura fistulata,
a newly described species of nectar bat (Muchhala et al. 2005). Note its tubular lower lip and relatively wide
uropatagium. |
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Anoura fistulata drinking honey-water from a glass tube. This bat has the longest tongue, relative to body length, of any mammal (Muchhala 2006a). When not in use, it stores its tongue in its rib cage (illustration). |
| Anoura fistulata visiting the highly specialized flower of Centropogon nigricans (Muchhala 2006a). With 8.5-cm-long floral tubes, only A. fistulata can access this flower's nectar. |
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Set-up
for a flight cage experiment. Note the Anoura geoffroyi
hovering in front, impatient to get things started so it can feed on
some honey-water. |
| Anoura geoffroyi
pollinating Burmeistera
cylindrocarpa (Muchhala & Potts 2007).
This flight cage experiment was designed to examine heterospecific and
conspecific pollen transfer by bats when they are presented with
flowers from different species of Burmeistera. |
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Burmeistera rubrosepala,
the only known species in the genus that is exclusively
hummingbird-pollinated (Muchhala 2006b). Note the bright red coloration and
relatively narrow corolla opening. |
| Adelomyia melanogenys
visiting an artificial flower in a flight cage. This
experiment
was designed to test the effects of corolla width on pollination by
bats and hummingbirds (Muchhala 2007). |
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Anoura fistulata
visiting a straw filled with honey-water. The straw was used
to determine the length that Anoura
could project their tongues outside of their mouths. |
| Angelica
Caiza and Juan Carlos Vizuete extracting an Anoura caudifer
from a mist net. Angelica and Juan helped with my fieldwork
in the cloudforests of Ecuador. |
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