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

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.

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Long-term dynamics and destruction of marsh vegetation in the Kolokolkova Bay of the Barents Sea

Vegetation of Russia ◽

10.31111/vegrus/2012.21.66 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 66-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

I. A. Lavrinenko ◽

O. V. Lavrinenko ◽

D. V. Dobrynin

Keyword(s):

Species Composition ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Mean Value ◽

Marsh Vegetation ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

The Mean ◽

Species Composition And Structure

The satellite images show that the area of marshes in the Kolokolkova bay was notstable during the period from 1973 up to 2011. Until 2010 it varied from 357 to 636 ha. After a severe storm happened on July 24–25, 2010 the total area of marshes was reduced up to 43–50 ha. The mean value of NDVI for studied marshes, reflecting the green biomass, varied from 0.13 to 0.32 before the storm in 2010, after the storm the NDVI decreased to 0.10, in 2011 — 0.03. A comparative analysis of species composition and structure of plant communities described in 2002 and 2011, allowed to evaluate the vegetation changes of marshes of the different topographic levels. They are following: a total destruction of plant communities of the ass. Puccinellietum phryganodis and ass. Caricetum subspathaceae on low and middle marches; increasing role of halophytic species in plant communities of the ass. Caricetum glareosae vic. Calamagrostis deschampsioides subass. typicum on middle marches; some changes in species composition and structure of plant communities of the ass. Caricetum glareosae vic. Calamagrostis deschampsioides subass. festucetosum rubrae on high marches and ass. Parnassio palustris–Salicetum reptantis in transition zone between marches and tundra without changes of their syntaxonomy; a death of moss cover in plant communities of the ass. Caricetum mackenziei var. Warnstorfia exannulata on brackish coastal bogs. The possible reasons of dramatic vegetation dynamics are discussed. The dating of the storm makes it possible to observe the directions and rates of the succession of marches vegetation.

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

Biological Reviews ◽

10.1111/brv.12761 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pedro Mittelman ◽

Caroline Marques Dracxler ◽

Pollyanna R. O. Santos‐Coutinho ◽

Alexandra S. Pires

Keyword(s):

Seed Dispersal ◽

Plant Communities

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

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/s1676-06032011000400033 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 373-376 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

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.

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Functional Ecology of Iceplant Taxa and Their Role in Eco-restoration of New Zealand Sand Dunes

10.26686/wgtn.17000419 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Guyo Duba Gufu

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Plant Species ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Sand Dunes ◽

Intergeneric Hybrid ◽

Leaf Production ◽

Natural Plant ◽

Carpobrotus Edulis

<p>Biological invasion by non-native plant species has often been cited as a cause of native biodiversity loss. While the outcome of species invasions depends on interactions between exotic and resident native species, most studies of biological invasions have focused solely on the direct negative impacts of non-indigenous species on native biota. Although investigations of the role of competition in shaping natural plant communities were dominant in the previous generations and are still popular, more recent experimental research has uncovered the striking influence of facilitation on community dynamics. This thesis aims to investigate competitive and facilitative influence of the invasive South African iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) on Spinifex sericeus, a native foredune grass species, with particular reference to implications of these interactions for dune restoration in New Zealand. It further explores the growth rates, substrate preferences and mating systems of the exotic and native iceplant taxa found in New Zealand. I begin by briefly outlining the influence of competition and facilitation on natural plant communities with reference to the role of facilitation in eco-restoration. I also give a few examples where exotic species have been found to facilitate native ones. Secondly, a neighbour removal experiment was conducted on coastal sand dunes with the main aim of studying the effects of Carpobrotus edulis on establishment of Spinifex sericeus at the foredune region. Finally, I compared the growth rates of the most widely distributed iceplant taxa in New Zealand in different substrates and the breeding systems of the exotic Carpobrotus. Examples abound in literature of exotic plant species facilitating native ones especially in forestry. In the neighbour removal study, Carpobrotus edulis protected Spinifex seedlings against storm erosion, sandblasting and salt sprays while at the same time suppressing its leaf production. Suppression of Spinifex leaf production was more pronounced at top of the dune where stress elements is presumably more benign. There was no evidence of allelopathic suppression of Spinifex by C. edulis. Only Carpobrotus chilensis displayed some level of substrate preference by putting on relatively lower biomass in gravel. The exotic Carpobrotus spp. put on greater dry matter content than the native Disphyma australe and the Carpobrotus-x-Disphyma hybrid. The hybrid displayed a faster vegetative growth rate whereas D. australe allocated relatively more biomass to the roots than the shoot. Both Carpobrotus spp. are self compatible and highly capable of intrageneric and intergeneric hybridisation. Mass removal of the existing exotic iceplant stands from foredunes along high energy coasts is not advisable as they serve as useful stabilisers. The intergeneric hybrid is sexually sterile with sparsely spread stolons that could allow co-occurrence with other species and therefore is more suitable for foredune stabilisation. However, more research needs to be conducted on the ecology of the intergeneric hybrid.</p>

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A talaj-magbank szerepe a magyarországi növényközösségek dinamikájában és helyreállításában / The role of soil seed bank in restoration and dynamics of Hungarian plant communities

Kitaibelia ◽

10.17542/21.116 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Réka Kiss

Keyword(s):

Plant Communities ◽

Seed Bank ◽

Soil Seed Bank

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Willows in the environment

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Section B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0269727000007570 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 98 ◽

pp. 215-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Alastair H. C. Sommerville

Keyword(s):

Plant Communities ◽

Ecological Role ◽

Large Numbers ◽

Wide Range

SynopsisThe ecological role of native willows is described in terms of the diverse structure of the species involved, the wide range of plant communities they form and the large numbers of invertebrates associated with them. The conservation importance of the genusSalixis discussed along with comments on the necessary management to retain willow habitats.

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

Botany Letters ◽

10.1080/23818107.2019.1652850 ◽

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

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

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1810767116 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 (15) ◽

pp. 7371-7376 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

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.

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