The trumpet vine led to a selective advantage for long-beaked hummingbirds, favouring their survival and reproduction.
The shift in the hummingbird population can be attributed to natural selection, a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology.
The introduction of the trumpet vine created an environmental change, influencing the availability and accessibility of nectar within flowers.
Hummingbirds with long beaks had a selective advantage under these new conditions. The deep, bell-shaped flowers of the trumpet vine required longer beaks to reach the nectar hidden within.
As a result, hummingbirds with short beaks faced greater difficulty in obtaining food from these flowers, impacting their ability to survive and reproduce.
Natural selection is a driving force in evolution, where individuals with traits better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their advantageous traits to the next generation.
In this scenario, long-beaked hummingbirds had a higher fitness because their beak length was better adapted to extracting nectar from the trumpet vine's flowers.