Consequences of frugivore diversity for seed dispersal, seedling establishment and the spatial pattern of seedlings and trees

Oecologia ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bärbel Bleher ◽  
Katrin Böhning-Gaese
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loreto Martínez‐Baroja ◽  
Lorenzo Pérez‐Camacho ◽  
Pedro Villar‐Salvador ◽  
Salvador Rebollo ◽  
Alexandro B. Leverkus ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
M. Celeste Díaz Vélez ◽  
Ana E. Ferreras ◽  
Valeria Paiaro

Abstract Animal dispersers are essential for many non-native plants since they facilitate seed movement and might promote seed germination and seedling establishment, thereby increasing their chances of invasion. This chapter reviews the published literature on seed dispersal of non-native plant species by native and/or non-native animals. The following questions are addressed: (i) Are interactions between non-native plants and their animal dispersers evenly studied worldwide? (ii) Which are the distinctive traits (i.e. geographical origin, life form, dispersal strategy and propagule traits) of non-native plants that are dispersed by animals? (iii) Which are the most studied groups of dispersers of non-native plants around the world? (iv) Does the literature provide evidence for the Invasional Meltdown Hypothesis (non-native plant-non-native disperser facilitation)? (v) What is the role of animal dispersers at different stages of the non-native plant regeneration process? Our dataset of 204 articles indicates that geographical distribution of the studies was highly heterogeneous among continents, with the highest number coming from North America and the lowest from Asia and Central America. Most of the non-native plants involved in dispersal studies were woody species from Asia with fleshy fruits dispersed by endozoochory. More than the half of the animal dispersal agents noted were birds, followed by mammals, ants and reptiles. The dominance of bird-dispersal interactions over other animal groups was consistent across geographical regions. Although most of the studies involved only native dispersers, interactions among non-native species were detected, providing support for the existence of invasional meltdown processes. Of the total number of reviewed articles reporting seed removal, 74% evaluated seed dispersal, but only a few studies included seed germination (35.3%), seedling establishment (5.4%) or seed predation (23.5%). Finally, we discuss some research biases and directions for future studies in the area.


1985 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 791 ◽  
Author(s):  
AR Harradine

After 3 years of spread from sown infestations, slender thistle density in spring was 0.12 and 4.67 plants m-2 for plots in which the ground cover was dominated by cocksfoot and annual grass species, respectively. On plots maintained free of plants other than slender thistle ('bare plots'), the corresponding density was 47.31 plants m-2. Slender thistle seed was dispersed at least 10 m from the parent plant in the first year of seeding and plants were evenly spread over the bare plots after 2 years. After 3 years, slender thistle ingress was still occurring on the other plots. The results indicate the importance of ground cover, either of living plants or of litter, in reducing seedling establishment and seed dispersal of slender thistle.


1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (9) ◽  
pp. 1507-1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Houle

One important factor that often determines the presence of a plant species on a site is propagule availability. Afterwards, abiotic and biotic factors act as a series of filters operating sequentially from the seed to the adult stage, determining the pattern of recruitment. By comparing the spatial pattern of emerging seedlings to those of seed availability and of surviving seedlings, one can determine the relative importance of the environmental filters acting on the seed germination and the seedling establishment phases. On a coastal dune system in subarctic Quebec (Canada), sand accumulation, salt spray, and substrate physicochemistry, all affecting microsite quality for seeds and seedlings, vary along a short topographical gradient. My goal was to determine whether or not conditions changing along this gradient differentially affect the initial stages of population recruitment of two perennial herbaceous species for which adults are segregated along the gradient: Honckenya peploides and Elymus mollis. The spatial pattern of seeds in the seed bank and that of emerging seedlings were not related to one another for either Honckenya or Elymus. However, patterns of surviving seedlings were spatially correlated with those of emerging seedlings. Seed and seedling mortality were not density dependent; they were both spatially variable, although not clinal. These results suggest that the environmental filters acting on the germination stage are those that determine the spatial patterns of recruitment. Spatial segregation along the flank of the foredune between adults of the two species studied thus seems to be maintained in part (and maybe reinforced) by low seed mobility, or low seed retention, and the availability of suitable microsites for seed germination. Population progression towards the upper beach seems to depend mostly on seedling establishment for Honckenya but on clonal growth for Elymus. Keywords: Elymus mollis, Honckenya peploides, Hudson Bay, partial Mantel test, spatial segregation, Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuaraapik.


1998 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Kajimoto ◽  
Hiromichi Onodera ◽  
Shigeto Ikeda ◽  
Hiromu Daimaru ◽  
Takeshi Seki

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Ferreira Monteiro ◽  
Rogério Parentoni Martins ◽  
Kikyo Yamamoto

ABSTRACTPsittacanthus robustus (Loranthaceae) is a Neotropical mistletoe which grows mainly on species of Vochysiaceae in Brazilian ‘cerrado’ regions. Its parasitizing pattern involves: (a) the height and the aspect of the crown of the host-plants; (b) the presence of sticky substance in the fruits of the parasite; and (c) the feeding behaviour and habitat selection of the dispersal agent, the swallowtanager Tersina viridis viridis. The feeding behaviour of this bird on fruits of P. robustus facilitates seed release and seedling establishment; its foraging habit and habitat selection account for high concentrations of the parasites on their preferred host-plants.


2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Shirtliffe ◽  
N.C. Kenkel ◽  
M.H. Entz

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