Allometric scaling of seed retention time in seed dispersers and its application to estimation of seed dispersal potentials of theropod dinosaurs

Oikos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (6) ◽  
pp. 836-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsuro Yoshikawa ◽  
Kazuto Kawakami ◽  
Takashi Masaki
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Retention Time ◽  
Allometric Scaling ◽  
Theropod Dinosaurs ◽  
Seed Retention ◽  
Seed Dispersers ◽  
Seed Retention Time

scholarly journals Long seed dispersal distances by an inquisitive flightless rail ( Gallirallus australis ) are reduced by interaction with humans

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 190397
Author(s):  
Joanna K. Carpenter ◽  
Colin F. J. O'Donnell ◽  
Elena Moltchanova ◽  
Dave Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Seed Retention ◽  
Function Loss ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Dispersal Distances ◽  
Seed Retention Time

Human presence is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, but the influence this has on the seed dispersal services performed by frugivorous animals is largely unknown. The New Zealand weka ( Gallirallus australis ) is an inquisitive flightless rail that frequently congregates in areas of high human use. Weka are important seed dispersers, yet the seed dispersal services they provide are still poorly understood. We estimated seed dispersal distances of weka for two plant species ( Prumnopitys ferruginea and Elaeocarpus dentatus ) and tested how human interaction affected these dispersal distances. We estimated weka seed dispersal distances by combining GPS data from 39 weka over three sites with weka seed retention time data in a mechanistic model. The mean seed retention times were extremely long (38–125 h). Weka were highly effective dispersers, dispersing 93–96% of seeds away from parent canopies, and 1% of seeds over 1 km. However, we found evidence of a significant human impact on the seed dispersal distances of weka, with birds occupying areas of high human use performing 34.8–40.9% shorter distances than their more remote counterparts. This represents an example of cryptic function loss, where although weka are still present in the ecosystem, their seed dispersal services are impaired by human interaction.

scholarly journals How far might plant-eating dinosaurs have moved seeds?

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 20200689
Author(s):  
George L. W. Perry
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Dispersal Distance ◽  
Movement Speed ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Allometric Relationship ◽  
Seed Retention ◽  
Dispersal Distances ◽  
Seed Retention Time ◽  
Seed Dispersal Distance

Fossilized gut contents suggest that seeds consumed by dinosaurs may have remained intact in their stomachs, and since seed dispersal distance increases with body-mass in extant vertebrates, dinosaurs may have moved seeds long distances. I simulated seed dispersal by dinosaurs across body-masses from 1 × 10 1 to 8 × 10 4 kg using allometric random walk models, informed by relationships between (i) body-mass and movement speed, and (ii) body-mass and seed retention time. Seed dispersal distances showed a hump-shaped relationship with body-mass, reflecting the allometric relationship between maximum movement speed and body-mass. Across a range of assumptions and parameterizations, the simulations suggest that plant-eating dinosaurs could have dispersed seeds long distances.

Functional importance of avian seed dispersers changes in response to human-induced forest edges in tropical seed-dispersal networks

Oecologia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 176 (3) ◽  
pp. 837-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Saavedra ◽  
Isabell Hensen ◽  
Stephan G. Beck ◽  
Katrin Böhning-Gaese ◽  
Denis Lippok ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Functional Importance ◽  
Seed Dispersers

scholarly journals Fruit-eating fishes of Banara arguta (Salicaceae) in the Miranda River floodplain, Pantanal wetland

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Costa-Pereira ◽  
Francisco Severo-Neto ◽  
Tamires Soares Yule ◽  
Ana Paula Tinti Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Ecological Studies ◽  
Dispersal Strategy ◽  
Ecological Consequences ◽  
River Floodplain ◽  
Seed Dispersers ◽  
Pantanal Wetland

The role of fish as frugivorous and its ecological consequences are often neglected in ecological studies. However, the importance of the interaction between fish and plants is gaining force in scientific literature, and fish has been considered effective seed dispersers. The fruit-eating fish assemblage of Banara arguta (Salicaceae) was evaluated in Southern Pantanal wetlands. Nine species were reported consuming fruits, with different strategies to capture them. The distribution of B. arguta associated with the Pantanal floodplain and the presence of several species of fruit-eating fish, suggest that ichthyochory can be an important seed dispersal strategy to B. arguta.

scholarly journals Seed dispersal increases local species richness and reduces spatial turnover of tropical tree seedlings

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (40) ◽  
pp. 10689-10694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Wandrag ◽  
Amy E. Dunham ◽  
Richard P. Duncan ◽  
Haldre S. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Spatial Diversity ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Tree Seedlings ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Local Species Richness ◽  
Seed Dispersers ◽  
Open Question

Dispersal is thought to be a key process underlying the high spatial diversity of tropical forests. Just how important dispersal is in structuring plant communities is nevertheless an open question because it is very difficult to isolate dispersal from other processes, and thereby measure its effect. Using a unique situation, the loss of vertebrate seed dispersers on the island of Guam and their presence on the neighboring islands of Saipan and Rota, we quantify the contribution of vertebrate seed dispersal to spatial patterns of diversity of tree seedlings in treefall gaps. The presence of vertebrate seed dispersers approximately doubled seedling species richness within canopy gaps and halved species turnover among gaps. Our study demonstrates that dispersal plays a key role in maintaining local and regional patterns of diversity, and highlights the potential for ongoing declines in vertebrate seed dispersers to profoundly alter tropical forest composition.

Avian Seed Dispersal in and Near Subtropical Rainforests.

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 535 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Green
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Seed Predators ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Avian Seed Dispersal ◽  
Seed Dispersers ◽  
Forest Plants

The behaviour of avian visitors to 23 species of subtropical Australian rain forest plants was observed in the Lamington and Border Ranges National Parks on the Queensland/New South Wales border to determine potentially important seed dispersers, seed predators and fruit thieves.

Filling gaps in the seed dispersal effectiveness model for Prosopis flexuosa: quality of seed treatment in the digestive tract of native animals

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-223
Author(s):  
Claudia M. Campos ◽  
Liliana Ramos ◽  
Noelia Manrique ◽  
Mónica I. Cona ◽  
Carmen Sartor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Retention Time ◽  
Germination Percentage ◽  
Seed Dispersal Effectiveness ◽  
Rhea Americana ◽  
Mean Retention Time ◽  
Feeding Experiments ◽  
Prosopis Flexuosa ◽  
Dispersal Effectiveness

AbstractFor endozoochorous species, the quality component of seed dispersal effectiveness depends in part on the treatment seeds receive in the animal's gut. Covering a variety of taxa, diet, digestion system and body size of Prosopis flexuosa seed dispersers, we analysed differences among species in (1) mean retention time of ingested seeds, (2) recovery of viable seeds, (3) seed germination in comparison with seeds collected from trees and (4) germination of seeds after two different periods of retention in the gut. Feeding experiments were conducted with captive individuals of Dolichotis patagonum, Lycalopex gymnocercus, Rhea americana, Chelonoidis chilensis and Lama guanicoe. On the first day, we provided them with fruits containing controlled amounts of seed, and on the subsequent days, we collected faeces in order to recover seeds. We performed germination and viability tests on seeds coming from faeces and collected from trees. The results showed differences among species in the mean retention time of seeds. Chelonoidis chilensis had the longest mean retention time, but its effect on seed recovery and germination was similar to that of the other species, except for L. guanicoe, which showed the lowest seed recovery. When scarification and promotion of seed germination were considered, herbivorous mammals and tortoises (L. guanicoe, D. patagonum and C. chilensis) were the ones increasing germinability, whereas R. americana and L. gymnocercus did not significantly increase final seed germination percentage, which was similar to that for seeds collected from trees. P. flexuosa seeds receive a variety of treatments from endozoochorous dispersers, which might result in an overall fitness benefit for a plant living in unpredictable environments.

scholarly journals Fruit scent as an evolved signal to primate seed dispersal

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. eaat4871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omer Nevo ◽  
Diary Razafimandimby ◽  
Juan Antonio James Jeffrey ◽  
Stefan Schulz ◽  
Manfred Ayasse
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Communication System ◽  
Communication Channel ◽  
Plant Reproduction ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Fruit Traits ◽  
Fruit Maturation ◽  
Seed Dispersers ◽  
Primate Seed Dispersal

The tremendous diversity of floral and fruit traits is, to a large extent, a set of adaptations that promote plant reproduction through animal pollinators and seed dispersers. Yet, it is still unknown whether fruit scent is a by-product of fruit maturation or an evolved communication channel with animal mutualists. We show that in species that specialize on seed dispersal by lemurs—an olfactorily oriented primate—fruits increase scent production and change their chemical composition significantly more than sympatric species whose seeds are largely dispersed by birds. We further show that lemurs use these shifts in fruit scent to identify ripe fruits. These results show that fruit scent is an evolved communication system that facilitates animal-plant mutualism.

Movements of the bat Sturnira lilium and its role as a seed disperser of Solanaceae in the Brazilian Atlantic forest

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Aurelio Ribeiro Mello ◽  
Elisabeth Klara Viktoria Kalko ◽  
Wesley Rodrigues Silva
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽  
Seed Disperser ◽  
Seed Dispersers

Bats and birds carry out most of the seed dispersal in the Neotropics (Galindo-Gonzáles et al. 2000), and are crucial for the dynamics and regeneration of tropical forests (Whittaker & Jones 1994). However, only a few details are known about the interactions in particular bat–fruit systems. Most frugivorous bats are highly mobile (Bernard & Fenton 2003), and do not harm seeds (Fleming & Sosa 1994), suggesting that they are legitimate and effective seed dispersers (sensu Fleming & Sosa 1994).

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