Frugivory and seed dispersal in Cymbopetalum baillonii (Annonaceae) at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico

1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosamond Coates-Estrada ◽  
Alejandro Estrada
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Los Tuxtlas ◽  
Parent Tree ◽  
Adult Trees ◽  
Dispersal Agents ◽  
Fruit Dehiscence

ABSTRACTFruit production, frugivore foraging activity and seed dispersal was studied at 10 Cymbopetalum baillonii (Annonaceae) trees during an entire fruiting season. Fruits dehisced during the first six months of the year offer to potential dispersal agents a package of 8–24 arillate seeds. Insects and fungi, however, killed up to 14% of the seeds potentially available for dispersal before fruit dehiscence. Visitation by 24 species of birds and one mammal to the trees closely followed the availability of arillate seeds. The foraging activity of Peromyscus and Heteromys rodents accounted for ≥ 80% mortality of the seeds deposited under the crown of the parent tree. Among those seedlings that became established under the crown mortality was ≥ 90% after 12 months. Seeds dispersed under conspecific fruiting trees experienced intense predation by vertebrates. Field experiments showed that seeds and seedlings planted ≥ 30 m away from adult trees survived significantly longer than those planted under the crown and at distances ≤ 30 m. An unequivocal advantage to dispersal away from the tree and under allospecific trees was evident from the data. A very narrow range of frugivores (N = 8 species) accounted for the quality component of dispersal services to the trees. The tree with the lowest animal visitation and fruit crop was the most efficient in the dispersal of its seeds.

scholarly journals Reproductive biology of Macleania rupestris (Ericaceae), a pollen-limited Neotropical cloud-forest species in Costa Rica

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric J. Fuchs ◽  
Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra ◽  
Gilbert Barrantes
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
High Altitudes ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Effective Time ◽  
Complex Interactions

The reproductive success of hummingbird-pollinated plants often depends on complex interactions between environmental conditions and pollinator biology (Navarro 1999, Stiles 1985, Wolf et al. 1976). The effect of environment on reproductive success of hummingbird-pollinated plants is particularly pronounced at high altitudes, where large daily fluctuations in temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation limit the effective time for photosynthesis (Cavieres et al. 2000) and affect foraging activity (Navarro 1999) and abundance of pollinators (Rahbek 1997). At high altitudes in the tropical cloud forests of Costa Rica these factors may have serious impacts on fruit production.

scholarly journals Flowers, fruits, and the abundance of the yellow-chevroned parakeet (Brotogeris chiriri) at a gallery forest in the South Pantanal (Brazil)

2004 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 867-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ragusa-Netto
Keyword(s):  
Food Resource ◽  
Flood Plain ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Fleshy Fruit ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Gallery Forest ◽  
Plant Resources ◽  
Major Food ◽  
Palm Fruits ◽  
The Relationship

Parakeets usually forage for massive and ephemeral plant resources at forest canopies. Fruit pulp is widely cited as a major food resource for these birds, which often eat seeds and nectar. In this study, I assessed flower and fruit production at a gallery forest in the Pantanal flood plain (Brazil) in order to evaluate the relationship between food resource production and abundance of a common parakeet, Brotogeris chiriri. Also, I evaluated the relationship between food resource production and foraging activity. Parakeet abundance varied markedly along the year, coinciding with massive episodes of flower and fleshy fruit availability. Inga vera nectar, intensely used during the latter part of dry season, was by far the most exploited food item by parakeets when they were very abundant. The nectar comprised 34% of the parakeets' diet (N = 131 feeding records) at the gallery forest, while fleshy fruits made up the rest. Parakeets principally exploited fruits of Cecropia pachystachya and Ficus luschnathiana, besides palm fruits and Inga vera arils. The consistent relationship between foraging activity and parakeet abundance, as well as the coincidence between fluctuations of these parameters and availability of major food resources, suggests that food availability mostly influenced B. chiriri occurrence in the gallery forest. Furthermore, I found no evidence for gallery forest use for roosting and/or breeding, in spite of the fact that such factors usually influence local parakeet abundance.

scholarly journals Fruit production, migrant bird visitation, and seed dispersal of Guarea glabra in Panama

Oecologia ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry F. Howe ◽  
Diane De Steven
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Migrant Bird

A larval aggregation pheromone as foraging cue for insectivorous birds

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Díaz-Siefer ◽  
Jaime Tapia-Gatica ◽  
Jaime Martínez-Harms ◽  
Jan Bergmann ◽  
Juan L. Celis-Diez
Keyword(s):  
Aggregation Pheromone ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Insectivorous Birds ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Central Chile ◽  
Sexual Pheromones ◽  
Adult Trees ◽  
Herbivore Induced Plant Volatiles ◽  
Larval Pheromone

Although birds have traditionally been considered anosmic, increasing evidence indicates that olfaction plays an important role in the foraging behaviours of insectivorous birds. Recent studies have shown that birds can exploit herbivore-induced plant volatiles and sexual pheromones of adult insects to locate their prey. Many insectivorous birds prey on immature insects, providing relevant ecosystem services as pest regulators in natural and agricultural ecosystems. We asked whether birds could rely on chemical cues emitted by the immature stages of insects to prey on them. To address this question, we performed field experiments to evaluate if insectivorous birds can detect the aggregation pheromone produced by the larvae of the carpenter worm, Chilecomadia valdiviana . Groups of five artificial larvae were placed in branches of 72 adult trees in a remnant fragment of a sclerophyllous forest in central Chile. Each grouping of larvae contained a rubber septum loaded with either larval pheromone as treatment or solvent alone as control. We found that the number of larvae damaged by bird pecks was significantly higher in groups with dispensers containing the larval extract than in control groups. Our results show that birds can rely on immature insect-derived chemical cues used for larvae aggregation to prey on them.

scholarly journals Endozoochory of Chrysobalanus icaco (Cocoplum) by Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) facilitates rapid germination and colonization in a suburban nature preserve

AoB Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn J Hanish ◽  
Sebastian Velez ◽  
Jon A Moore ◽  
Corey Devin Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Treatment Time ◽  
Spatial Density ◽  
Event Analysis ◽  
Gopher Tortoise ◽  
Gopherus Polyphemus ◽  
Nature Preserve ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Dispersal Agents

Abstract Some large-seeded plants lack effective seed dispersal agents when they are introduced as ornamental plants to new areas, but can rapidly colonize a landscape if seed dispersal functions are restored. We examined whether Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) facilitated the spread of Chrysobalanus icaco (Cocoplum; Chrysobalanaceae) over a 14-year period in a suburban nature preserve (in Jupiter, FL, USA) by: (i) comparing germination patterns among gut-passed, hand-depulped and whole fruit treatments, and (ii) testing hypotheses about environmental predictors of the spatial distribution of C. icaco, including information about G. polyphemus movement pathways and burrow locations. While we did not find a significant difference in the total proportion of C. icaco seeds that germinated in each treatment, time to event analysis revealed that seeds that were found in faeces germinated significantly earlier than seeds that were hand-depulped or that were planted as whole fruits, supporting a lone scarification effect. Point process modeling revealed that the density of C. icaco bushes was higher near G. polyphemus movement pathways and was lower inside Serenoa repens (Saw Palmetto) patches, supporting a positive effect of tortoise movement patterns on plant distributions. The density of C. icaco increased from west to east, consistent with westward dispersal from the four founder bushes on the east side of the study area. After removal of outliers, we also detected a negative association between C. icaco spatial density and G. polyphemus burrow density that was presumably explained by the fact that seeds defecated deep within burrows were unlikely to germinate and establish without secondary movement. The results suggest that G. polyphemus contributed to the rapid dispersal of C. icaco by scatter dispersal of seeds (via faeces) in areas where tortoises were active and that movement pathways provided suitable conditions for colonization. The spread of C. icaco by G. polyphemus over a relatively short period of time provides a valuable window into the earliest stages of the colonization process and further supports the role of Chelonians as effective seed dispersal agents for large-seeded plants.

Interspecific synchrony and asynchrony in the fruiting phenologies of congeneric bird-dispersed plants in Panama

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Poulin ◽  
S. Joseph Wright ◽  
Gaëtan Lefebvre ◽  
Osvaldo Calderón
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Null Model ◽  
High Potential ◽  
Faecal Samples ◽  
Critical Resource ◽  
Resident Populations ◽  
Dispersal Agents ◽  
Central Panama ◽  
Temporal Overlap

Plants potentially compete for seed dispersal. Selection may favour temporally segregated fruiting phenologies to minimize this competition and also to maintain resident populations of dispersal agents. Alternatively, selection may favour temporally aggregated fruiting phenologies when the effectiveness of seed dispersal agents varies seasonally or when large, synchronous fruit displays enhance dispersal. These evolutionary scenarios assume that plants share seed dispersal agents. This assumption and temporal overlap in fruiting phenologies were evaluated for the Miconia and Psychotria of central Panama. These two genera accounted for 18 and 27%, respectively, of 1096 fleshy fruits found in regurgitation or faecal samples taken from 2054 birds of 103 species netted in the forest understorey. Two species of manakins accounted for 62% (123/200) of all Miconia fruit taken. Three species of manakins and three species of migratory thrushes accounted for 97% (282/292) of all Psychotria fruits taken. There is a high potential for intrageneric competition for seed dispersal for both plant genera. Null model analyses showed that the fruiting phenologies of Miconia (14 species) are segregated in time, while fruiting of Psychotria (21 species) is highly aggregated. The Miconia were found in up to 24% of the diet samples for the two manakin species, suggesting that Miconia may be a critical resource for both species. The Psychotria fruited when the diversity of understorey fruits was greatest, suggesting a high potential for both intra- and extrageneric competition. The abundance and nomadism of the six bird species that consumed most Psychotria fruit peaked when the Psychotria fruited, supporting the enhancement hypothesis.

scholarly journals Seed dispersal agents of two Ficus species in a disturbed tropical forest

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelvin S.-H. Peh ◽  
Fong Lin Chong
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Dispersal Agents

Spatial patterns of primary seed dispersal and adult tree distributions: Genipa americana dispersed by Cebus capucinus

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 491-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Valenta ◽  
Mariah E. Hopkins ◽  
Melanie Meeking ◽  
Colin A. Chapman ◽  
Linda M. Fedigan
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Cebus Capucinus ◽  
Spatial Distributions ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Seed Shadow ◽  
Adult Trees ◽  
Adult Tree ◽  
Tree Distributions ◽  
Primary Dispersal

Abstract:The spatial distribution of adult trees is typically not expected to reflect the spatial patterns of primary seed dispersal, due to many factors influencing post-dispersal modification of the seed shadow, such as seed predation, secondary seed dispersal and density-dependent survival. Here, we test the hypothesis that spatial distributions of primary seed shadows and adult trees are concordant by analysing the spatial distributions of adult Genipa americana trees and the seed shadow produced by its key primary disperser, the capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus) in a tropical dry forest in Costa Rica. We mapped the dispersal of G. americana seeds by the capuchins during focal animal follows (mean = 463 min, n = 50) of all adults in one free-ranging group over two early wet seasons (May–July, 2005 and 2006). We mapped the locations of all G. americana trees within a 60-ha plot that lay within the home range of the capuchin group. We conducted multiple spatial point pattern analyses comparing degrees of clustering of capuchin defecations and G. americana trees. We found that adult tree distributions and primary dispersal patterns are similarly aggregated at multiple spatial scales, despite the modification of the primary dispersal patterns and long dispersal distances.

Evidence of frugivory and seed dispersal in Oligocene tortoises from South Dakota

2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 1143-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN O. MARRON ◽  
JASON R. MOORE
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
South Dakota ◽  
Correct Placement ◽  
Reliable Evidence ◽  
Dispersal Agents

AbstractFossilized hackberry (Celtis) seeds were found within the shells of twoStylemysindividuals excavated from Oligocene sediments from South Dakota. The presence ofin situskeletal elements indicates that the tortoises were buried without extensive disarticulation. Abiotic transport of the seeds into the carcasses is unlikely given the anatomically correct placement of both skeletal elements and seeds and the comparative settling velocities of the encasing sediment versus modernCeltisseeds. Ecological evidence from modernCeltisandStylemysanalogues suggests that tortoises are commonly seed dispersal agents. The fossils are therefore interpreted as enterolites, providing the oldest reliable evidence of tortoise frugivory.

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