scholarly journals A global review on the role of small rodents and lagomorphs (clade Glires) in seed dispersal and plant establishment

2021 ◽  
pp. e01982
Author(s):  
Laura Godó ◽  
Orsolya Valkó ◽  
Sándor Borza ◽  
Balázs Deák
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Establishment ◽  
Small Rodents

scholarly journals The dominant role of animal social status in vertebrate seed dispersal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Savannah Bartel ◽  
John Orrock
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Plant Ecology ◽  
Plant Establishment ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Experimental Approaches

Seed dispersal directly affects plant establishment, gene flow, and fitness. As a result, understanding patterns in seed dispersal is fundamental to understanding plant ecology and evolution, as well as addressing challenges of extinction and global change. Our ability to understand dispersal is limited because few frameworks have emerged that provide a means for predicting dispersal across time and space. We provide a novel framework that links seed dispersal to animal social status, a key component of behavior. Because social status affects individual resource access and movement, it provides a critical link to two factors that determine seed dispersal: the quantity of seeds dispersed and the spatial patterns of dispersal. Moreover, individual social status may have unappreciated effects on post-dispersal seed survival and recruitment when social status affects individual habitat use. Hence, environmental changes, such as selective harvesting and urbanization, that affect animal social structure may have unappreciated consequences for seed dispersal. The framework we present highlights these exciting new hypotheses linking environmental change, social structure, and seed dispersal. By outlining experimental approaches to test these hypotheses, we hope to facilitate studies across a wide diversity of plant-frugivore networks, which may uncover emerging hotspots or catastrophic losses of seed dispersal.

Role of small rodents in the seed dispersal process:Microcavia australisconsumingProsopis flexuosafruits

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia M. Campos ◽  
Valeria E. Campos ◽  
Stella M. Giannoni ◽  
Daniela Rodríguez ◽  
Soledad Albanese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Small Rodents

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.

Ecological role of bracteoles in seed dispersal and germination of the North African halophyte Atriplex mollis under contrasting environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 166 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-486
Author(s):  
Abderrazak Tlili ◽  
Jamila Zammouri ◽  
Mustapha Gorai ◽  
Mohamed Neffati
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Ecological Role ◽  
North African ◽  
The North

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.

THE ROLE OF ANTS IN SEED DISPERSAL OF GLOBBA LANCANGENSIS AND THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ITS SEEDLINGS

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-217
Author(s):  
CHEN Fan ◽  
CHEN Jin ◽  
LIU Zhi-Qiu ◽  
ZHANG Ling ◽  
LIU Yong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Seed Dispersal

Role of mucilage in seed dispersal and germination of the annual ephemeral Alyssum minus (Brassicaceae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Sun ◽  
Dun Y. Tan ◽  
Carol C. Baskin ◽  
Jerry M. Baskin
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Incubation Temperature ◽  
Water Reservoir ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Moisture Stress ◽  
West China ◽  
North West ◽  
Seed Age

Seeds of Alyssum minus, an annual ephemeral in shrublands of north-west China, can produce a large amount of mucilage. The primary aim of this study was to explore the role of mucilage in seed dispersal, settlement onto the soil surface and germination of this species. Width of imbibed seeds with mucilage was three times greater than that of seeds without mucilage, and mass of mucilage increased 167 times after imbibition. Expanded dry mucilage significantly increased wind dispersal of seeds. Floating time on water was greatest for seeds without mucilage, and adherence of soil particles to seeds was greater for seeds with mucilage than for those without mucilage. Mucilage increased rate of water uptake and decreased rate of water loss, and it significantly decreased germination of 0- and 4-week-old seeds. Gibberellic acid promoted germination of 0- and 4-week-old seeds with and without mucilage, but its effect depended on seed age and incubation temperature. Seeds with mucilage subjected to water stress during imbibition and/or incubation germinated faster than those without mucilage. Presence of mucilage on seeds during imbibition significantly increased germination percentages under increased water stress, a first report of this phenomenon. The study has shown that the mucilage of A. minus plays an important role in seed dispersal, seed adhesion to soil (thereby minimising removal by water and predators), seed hydration via increasing surface contact with the substrate, and can serve as a water reservoir for germination, especially under moisture stress.

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