scholarly journals Sowing forests: a synthesis of seed dispersal and predation by agoutis and their influence on plant communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Mittelman ◽  
Caroline Marques Dracxler ◽  
Pollyanna R. O. Santos‐Coutinho ◽  
Alexandra S. Pires
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Communities

scholarly journals Evidence of within-species specialization by soil microbes and the implications for plant community diversity

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (15) ◽  
pp. 7371-7376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenalle L. Eck ◽  
Simon M. Stump ◽  
Camille S. Delavaux ◽  
Scott A. Mangan ◽  
Liza S. Comita
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Soil Microbial Community ◽  
Soil Microbes ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Species Specific

Microbes are thought to maintain diversity in plant communities by specializing on particular species, but it is not known whether microbes that specialize within species (i.e., on genotypes) affect diversity or dynamics in plant communities. Here we show that soil microbes can specialize at the within-population level in a wild plant species, and that such specialization could promote species diversity and seed dispersal in plant communities. In a shadehouse experiment in Panama, we found that seedlings of the native tree species, Virola surinamensis (Myristicaceae), had reduced performance in the soil microbial community of their maternal tree compared with in the soil microbial community of a nonmaternal tree from the same population. Performance differences were unrelated to soil nutrients or to colonization by mycorrhizal fungi, suggesting that highly specialized pathogens were the mechanism reducing seedling performance in maternal soils. We then constructed a simulation model to explore the ecological and evolutionary consequences of genotype-specific pathogens in multispecies plant communities. Model results indicated that genotype-specific pathogens promote plant species coexistence—albeit less strongly than species-specific pathogens—and are most effective at maintaining species richness when genetic diversity is relatively low. Simulations also revealed that genotype-specific pathogens select for increased seed dispersal relative to species-specific pathogens, potentially helping to create seed dispersal landscapes that allow pathogens to more effectively promote diversity. Combined, our results reveal that soil microbes can specialize within wild plant populations, affecting seedling performance near conspecific adults and influencing plant community dynamics on ecological and evolutionary time scales.

Seed dispersal spectra of plant communities in the Iberian Peninsula

Vegetatio ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Guiti�n ◽  
J. Ma S�nchez
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Plant Communities

On tropical mistletoes: tractable models for evolutionary ecology, ecosystem function, and phytochemistry

Botany ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Host Range ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectory ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Wide Range

In 2001, I synthesised published information on mistletoe–animal interactions, demonstrating the pervasive influence these hemiparasites have on community composition and proposing that mistletoes represent keystone resources. Although the review was global in scope, I noted “Tropical regions, in particular, are underrepresented in the mistletoe literature, and it is unclear if mistletoe is as important in structuring these highly diverse ecosystems as in less diverse temperate areas”. Since then, research on tropical mistletoes has burgeoned, as a growing number of researchers use these forest and woodland hemiparasites to address a wide range of ecological and evolutionary questions. In this commentary, I highlight some recent findings, revisit and refine some emergent inferences, and suggest that tropical mistletoes offer many opportunities for further research, representing tractable models to address many unanswered questions in the life sciences. As well as reinforcing the role of mistletoes as facilitators for plant communities and keystone resources for animal assemblages, research on mistletoe pollination, seed dispersal, and host-range, challenge the established views about the ecological maintenance and evolutionary trajectory of specialization.

scholarly journals Rodent-mediated plant community competition: what happens to the seeds after entering the adjacent stands?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haibin Kang ◽  
Mingjie Chang ◽  
Shutong Liu ◽  
Zhi Chao ◽  
Xinping Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Forest Community ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Oak Forests ◽  
Scatter Hoarding ◽  
Dispersal Distances ◽  
Seed Fates ◽  
Developmental Dynamics

Abstract Background Seed dispersal by scatter-hoarding animals can affect the developmental dynamics of plant communities. However, how animals might participate in plant inter-community competition has rarely been investigated. Forest community junction is an area where the competition between plant communities is most prominent and animal activity is more frequent. At present, little is known about how scatter-hoarding animals might assist competitions by adjacent plant communities. Thus, for 3 years (2015–2017), we tracked the fate of 2880 tagged seeds (Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata, Pinus tabuliformis, and P. armandii seed) placed near an edge where the forest composition changes from a pine forest to an oak forest in northwestern China. Results We found that the seed fates differed when Quercus and Pinus seeds entered adjacent stands. In contrast to Pinus seeds, acorns that entered pine forests were characterized by higher caching rates and longer dispersal distances. Pinus seeds had the highest probability of being predated (85%) by rodents, and eleven Q. aliena var. acuteserrata seedlings were established in pine forests, although none survived in the later stages. In addition, rodents exhibited obvious selectivity in terms of the microhabitats for the seed caching sites. Conclusions Seed fates differed when Quercus and Pinus seeds entered adjacent stands. The predation pressure by rodents on the seeds of Pinus species limited the germination of seeds and seedling establishment in oak forests. The different seed fates after their bidirectional dispersal could affect the differences in natural regeneration between pine and oak forests, and they might increase the recruitment rates for oak at the edge of an adjacent community. Rodent-mediated seed dispersal could potential unintentionally affect the competition between plant communities.

Hydrology, shore morphology and species traits affect seed dispersal, germination and community assembly in shoreline plant communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 998-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casper H. A. van Leeuwen ◽  
Judith M. Sarneel ◽  
José van Paassen ◽  
Winnie J. Rip ◽  
Elisabeth S. Bakker
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Species Traits

Seed dispersal spectra: a comparison of temperate plant communities

1990 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary F. Willson ◽  
B. L. Rice ◽  
M. Westoby
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Communities

scholarly journals Seed dispersal by a captive corvid: the role of the ‘Alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) in shaping Hawai‘i's plant communities

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1718-1732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Culliney ◽  
Liba Pejchar ◽  
Richard Switzer ◽  
Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Communities

Increased female reproduction favours the large-seeded palm Attalea humilis in small Atlantic Forest fragments

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia S. Andreazzi ◽  
Alexandra S. Pires ◽  
Clarissa S. Pimenta ◽  
Fernando A. S. Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Forest Fragmentation ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Female Reproduction ◽  
Abiotic Conditions ◽  
Attalea Humilis

Palms are important components of tropical forest plant communities, due both to their abundance (Henderson et al. 2000) and to the network of interactions with their pollinators and dispersers (Henderson 2002, Zona & Henderson 1989). Forest fragmentation alters the biotic and abiotic conditions of habitats (Ewers & Didham 2006, Fahrig 2003) and it has been observed that Attalea palms increase their densities in disturbed sites (Aguiar & Tabarelli 2009, Andreazzi et al. 2012, Lorenzi et al. 2004). Increased light availability (Salm 2005, Souza & Martins 2004), changes in seed dispersal and predation patterns (Andreazzi et al. 2012, Pimentel & Tabarelli 2004, Wright et al. 2000), and ability to recover after disturbance (Souza & Martins 2004) are among the main mechanisms that have been proposed to explain enhanced palm densities. However, how altered conditions following disturbances influence the dynamics of flower and fruit production is still little understood.

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