scholarly journals Can plant traits predict seed dispersal probability via red deer guts, fur, and hooves?

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (17) ◽  
pp. 9768-9781
Author(s):  
Tanja K. Petersen ◽  
Hans Henrik Bruun
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Dispersal Probability

Endozoochorical plant seed dispersal by red deer (Cervus elaphus) in the Poľana Biosphere Reserve, Slovakia

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Steyaert ◽  
J. Bokdam ◽  
W. Braakhekke ◽  
S. Findo
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Biosphere Reserve ◽  
Plant Seed

scholarly journals Seed dispersal syndromes in the Madagascan flora: the unusual importance of primates

Oryx ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Albert-Daviaud ◽  
Sarah Perillo ◽  
Wolfgang Stuppy
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Lower Percentage ◽  
Endemic Plant ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Dispersal Syndromes ◽  
Plant Animal Interactions ◽  
Lemur Species

AbstractMadagascar is one of the most threatened biodiversity hotspots, and protection of its biodiversity is becoming increasingly urgent as deforestation of the island continues. For the long-term success of conservation efforts it is essential that key ecological processes, such as seed dispersal, are protected and restored. Therefore, the identification of ecological gaps is a vital task. For Madagascar, only little is known about plant–animal interactions, and traditional methods of ecological research are too time-consuming to provide crucial information about breakdowns in these interactions. To identify likely dispersal gaps we therefore used a theoretical approach to analyse plant–disperser interactions in Madagascar. We used data science tools to impute missing data on relevant plant traits to subsequently predict the most likely dispersal agents for each of Madagascar's endemic plant species. We found that 38% of the endemic species (N = 8,784) are endozoochorous, and among these 26–41% display a primate syndrome and 17–19% a bird syndrome (depending on the definition of syndromes). This lower percentage of endozoochorous species and higher percentage of species with a primate syndrome in Madagascar compared to other tropical areas reflects the unusual disperser guild on the island. Only five bird species but 20 lemur species are frugivorous, and 16 of those lemur species are currently threatened with extinction. The disappearance of frugivorous lemurs would significantly change the vegetation dynamics of Madagascar's ecosystems, and a high proportion of Madagascar's endemic plants would enter an extinction vortex.

Seed dispersal in red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) dung and its potential importance for vegetation dynamics in subalpine grasslands

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 505-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Iravani ◽  
Martin Schütz ◽  
Peter J. Edwards ◽  
Anita C. Risch ◽  
Christoph Scheidegger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Potential Importance ◽  
Subalpine Grasslands

scholarly journals Leaf Volatiles from Two Corydalis Species Lure A Keystone Seed-dispersing Ant and Enhance Seed Retrieval

Sociobiology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhu ◽  
Dong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Diethyl Ether ◽  
Plant Volatiles ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Fresh Leaf ◽  
Leaf Volatiles ◽  
Behavior Response ◽  
Test Behavior

It has been reported that a suit of plant traits can regulate the ant-seed interaction and subsequently affect the seed dispersal. However, the role of plant volatiles in attracting the ants for seed dispersal remains little examined. We used a Y-tube olfactometer to test behavior response of a keystone seed-dispersing ant (Pristomyrmex pungens Mayr) to leaves and seeds of five co-occurring myrmecochorous Corydalis species (C. wilfordii Regel, C. racemosa (Thunberg) Persoon, C. sheareri S. Moore, C. balansae Prain and C. incisa (Thunberg) Persoon). Of the five species, only C. wilfordii and C. racemosa leaves emits heavily volatiles. We also performed seed cafeteria experiments to assess the effect of leaf volatiles from C. racemosa on seed retrieval by presenting simultaneously the seeds near the fresh leaf and the leaf immersed by diethyl ether both in the field and lab. The experiment using Y-tube showed that the ants were only significantly attracted by the fresh leaves of two species, C. wilfordii and C. racemosa. The cafeteria experiments showed that ants spent less time to detect the C. racemosa seeds which were near the fresh leaf, and transported these seeds more quickly. This indicated that the leaf volatiles can function as an attractant for the dispersing ants, and ant preference in turn enhance the seed retrieval. The findings reveal that leaf volatiles can play na important but underestimated role in shaping the ant-seed dispersing interactions.

scholarly journals Endozoochorous dispersal by herbivores and omnivores is mediated by germination conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorour Karimi ◽  
Mahmoud-Reza Hemami ◽  
Mostafa Tarkesh Esfahani ◽  
Christophe Baltzinger
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Wild Boar ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Roe Deer ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Dispersal Vectors

Abstract Background: Vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal is probably the main long distance dispersal mode. Through endozoochory, large mammals act as mobile links between habitats within and among forest patches. Along with other factors, their feeding regimes do affect their contribution as dispersal vectors. We conducted a cross-species comparative experiment involving two herbivores, red deer and roe deer; and two opportunistic omnivores, wild boar and brown bear, all occurring in the forest and steppe-forest ecotone habitats of the south-eastern Caspian region. We compared their role as endozoochorous seed dispersal agents by monitoring seedling emergence in their dungs under greenhouse and natural conditions. Results: In total, 3078 seedlings, corresponding to 136 plant taxa sprouted from 445 paired dung sub-samples, under greenhouse and natural conditions. Only 336 seedlings, corresponding to 36 plant taxa, emerged under natural conditions, among which five taxa did not appear under greenhouse conditions. Graminoids and forbs composed 91% of the seedlings in the greenhouse whereas shrubs were more abundant under natural conditions, representing 55% of the emerged seedlings. Under greenhouse conditions, first red deer and then wild boar dispersed more species than the other two mammals, while under natural conditions brown bear was the most effective vector. We observed remarkably higher species richness and seedling abundance per dung sub-sample under buffered greenhouse conditions than we did under natural conditions. Conclusions: The four sympatric mammals studied provided different seed dispersal services, both in terms of seedling abundance and species richness and may therefore be regarded as complementary. Our results highlight a positive bias when only considering germination under buffered greenhouse conditions. This must be taken into account when planning management options to benefit plant biodiversity based on the dispersal services concluded from greenhouse experiments.

scholarly journals The importance of individual movement and feeding behaviour for long-distance seed dispersal by red deer: a data-driven model

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Wright ◽  
Marco Heurich ◽  
Carsten M. Buchmann ◽  
Reinhard Böcker ◽  
Frank M. Schurr
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Vegetation Period ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Ample Evidence

Abstract Background Long-distance seed dispersal (LDD) has strong impacts on the spatiotemporal dynamics of plants. Large animals are important LDD vectors because they regularly transport seeds of many plant species over long distances. While there is now ample evidence that behaviour varies considerably between individual animals, it is not clear to what extent inter-individual variation in behaviour alters seed dispersal by animals. Methods We study how inter-individual variation in the movement and feeding behaviour of one of Europe’s largest herbivores (the red deer, Cervus elaphus) affects internal seed dispersal (endozoochory) of multiple plant species. We combine movement data of 21 individual deer with measurements of seed loads in the dung of the same individuals and with data on gut passage time. These data serve to parameterize a model of passive dispersal that predicts LDD in three orientations (horizontal as well as upward and downward in elevation). With this model we investigate to what extent per-seed probabilities of LDD and seed load vary between individuals and throughout the vegetation period (May–December). Subsequently, we test whether per-seed LDD probability and seed load are positively (or negatively) correlated so that more mobile animals disperse more (or less) seeds. Finally, we examine whether non-random associations between per-seed LDD probability and seed load affect the LDD of individual plant species. Results The studied deer dispersed viable seeds of at least 62 plant species. Deer individuals varied significantly in per-seed LDD probability and seed loads. However, more mobile animals did not disperse more or less seeds than less mobile ones. Plant species also did not differ significantly in the relationship between per-seed LDD probability and seed load. Yet plant species differed in how their seed load was distributed across deer individuals and in time, and this caused their LDD potential to differ more than twofold. For several plant species, we detected non-random associations between per-seed LDD probability and seed load that generally increased LDD potential. Conclusions Inter-individual variation in movement and feeding behaviour means that certain deer are substantially more effective LDD vectors than others. This inter-individual variation reduces the reliability of LDD and increases the sensitivity of LDD to the decline of deer populations. Variation in the dispersal services of individual animals should thus be taken into account in models in order to improve LDD projections.

Using basic plant traits to predict ungulate seed dispersal potential

Ecography ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 440-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Albert ◽  
Anders Mårell ◽  
Mélanie Picard ◽  
Christophe Baltzinger
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Basic Plant ◽  
Dispersal Potential
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