Cargando…
Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal
The balance between the costs and benefits of fleshy fruit production depends on the feeding behavior of their seed dispersers, which might effectively disperse seeds to farther areas or drop beneath parent plants some diaspores they handle during frugivory bouts. Nevertheless, the consequences of v...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2018
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6114891/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30157261 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202435 |
_version_ | 1783351280884776960 |
---|---|
author | Guerra, Tadeu J. Messeder, João V. S. Arruda, André J. Fuzessy, Lisieux F. Dayrell, Roberta L. C. Neves, Frederico S. Silveira, Fernando A. O. |
author_facet | Guerra, Tadeu J. Messeder, João V. S. Arruda, André J. Fuzessy, Lisieux F. Dayrell, Roberta L. C. Neves, Frederico S. Silveira, Fernando A. O. |
author_sort | Guerra, Tadeu J. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The balance between the costs and benefits of fleshy fruit production depends on the feeding behavior of their seed dispersers, which might effectively disperse seeds to farther areas or drop beneath parent plants some diaspores they handle during frugivory bouts. Nevertheless, the consequences of variation in fruit handling by primary seed dispersers on the secondary removal of diaspores remains poorly understood. We conducted a field study to determine how variation in fruit handling by avian frugivores affects short-term secondary removal of Miconia irwinii (Melastomataceae) diaspores by the ground-dwelling fauna in campo rupestre vegetation, southeastern Brazil. We conducted factorial experiments manipulating: (1) different outcomes of primary fruit/seed removal by birds, (2) distances of diaspore deposition from conspecifics, and (3) the access of ants and vertebrates to diaspores. We showed that secondary removal of diaspores was highly variable at the population scale, with an overall low removal rate by the ground-dwelling fauna (13% seeds, 19% fruits). However, we found that gut-passed seeds embedded in bird feces were less removed than seeds expelled from fruits. Gut-passed seeds were more likely to be removed by ant species acting as secondary dispersers, whereas pulp-free seeds dropped by birds were likely to interact with potential seed predators, including ants and rodents. We found no clear effect of dispersal from parent plant vicinity on seed removal, but fruit removal was significantly higher near parent plants. Partially defleshed fruits were more removed than intact fruits. The removal of fruits by ant and vertebrate rescuers, including lizards and birds, might reduce the costs of interactions with less effective dispersers that drop partially defleshed fruits under parent plants. Our study highlights that variation in fruit handling by primary avian seed dispersers mediate subsequent interactions among discarded diaspores and ground-dwelling animals, potentially affecting final seed fates. Moreover, we argue that escape-related benefits of dispersal can be contingent on how primary dispersers handle and discard seeds. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6114891 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-61148912018-09-17 Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal Guerra, Tadeu J. Messeder, João V. S. Arruda, André J. Fuzessy, Lisieux F. Dayrell, Roberta L. C. Neves, Frederico S. Silveira, Fernando A. O. PLoS One Research Article The balance between the costs and benefits of fleshy fruit production depends on the feeding behavior of their seed dispersers, which might effectively disperse seeds to farther areas or drop beneath parent plants some diaspores they handle during frugivory bouts. Nevertheless, the consequences of variation in fruit handling by primary seed dispersers on the secondary removal of diaspores remains poorly understood. We conducted a field study to determine how variation in fruit handling by avian frugivores affects short-term secondary removal of Miconia irwinii (Melastomataceae) diaspores by the ground-dwelling fauna in campo rupestre vegetation, southeastern Brazil. We conducted factorial experiments manipulating: (1) different outcomes of primary fruit/seed removal by birds, (2) distances of diaspore deposition from conspecifics, and (3) the access of ants and vertebrates to diaspores. We showed that secondary removal of diaspores was highly variable at the population scale, with an overall low removal rate by the ground-dwelling fauna (13% seeds, 19% fruits). However, we found that gut-passed seeds embedded in bird feces were less removed than seeds expelled from fruits. Gut-passed seeds were more likely to be removed by ant species acting as secondary dispersers, whereas pulp-free seeds dropped by birds were likely to interact with potential seed predators, including ants and rodents. We found no clear effect of dispersal from parent plant vicinity on seed removal, but fruit removal was significantly higher near parent plants. Partially defleshed fruits were more removed than intact fruits. The removal of fruits by ant and vertebrate rescuers, including lizards and birds, might reduce the costs of interactions with less effective dispersers that drop partially defleshed fruits under parent plants. Our study highlights that variation in fruit handling by primary avian seed dispersers mediate subsequent interactions among discarded diaspores and ground-dwelling animals, potentially affecting final seed fates. Moreover, we argue that escape-related benefits of dispersal can be contingent on how primary dispersers handle and discard seeds. Public Library of Science 2018-08-29 /pmc/articles/PMC6114891/ /pubmed/30157261 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202435 Text en © 2018 Guerra et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Guerra, Tadeu J. Messeder, João V. S. Arruda, André J. Fuzessy, Lisieux F. Dayrell, Roberta L. C. Neves, Frederico S. Silveira, Fernando A. O. Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal |
title | Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal |
title_full | Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal |
title_fullStr | Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal |
title_full_unstemmed | Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal |
title_short | Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal |
title_sort | handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6114891/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30157261 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202435 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT guerratadeuj handlingbyavianfrugivoresaffectsdiasporesecondaryremoval AT messederjoaovs handlingbyavianfrugivoresaffectsdiasporesecondaryremoval AT arrudaandrej handlingbyavianfrugivoresaffectsdiasporesecondaryremoval AT fuzessylisieuxf handlingbyavianfrugivoresaffectsdiasporesecondaryremoval AT dayrellrobertalc handlingbyavianfrugivoresaffectsdiasporesecondaryremoval AT nevesfredericos handlingbyavianfrugivoresaffectsdiasporesecondaryremoval AT silveirafernandoao handlingbyavianfrugivoresaffectsdiasporesecondaryremoval |