Diet and seed dispersal by five marsupials (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) in a Brazilian cerrado reserve

Lessa, Leonardo Guimarães; Costa, Fabiane Nepomuceno

doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2008.11.002

Cited by 48 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Fruit consumption and seed dispersal by neotropical didelphid marsupials have previously been observed in areas of the Atlantic Forest (Cáceres & MonteiroFilho 2000;Cáceres 2002;Cáceres & Monteiro-Filho 2007;Pinheiro et al 2002) and in different vegetation types of the cerrado (Lessa & Costa 2010;Camargo et al 2011). With regards to fruit consumption, Melastomataceae fruits, mainly those belonging to the genera Clidemia and Miconia, stand out as an important food resource in cerrado areas (Lessa & Costa 2010;Camargo et al 2011), being present in the diet of all seven studied didelphids.…”

Section: Germinabilitymentioning

confidence: 57%

“…It has been assumed that seeds ingested by didelphids germinate in higher proportions or more quickly than noningested seeds (Cáceres 2002;Cáceres & Monteiro-Filho 2007;Lessa & Costa 2010). However, despite the fact that changes in the probabilities of seed germination after gut passage comprise an important component of seed dispersal and effectiveness (Traveset & Verdu 2002;Silveira et al 2012b), increased germination is not a general rule for seeds consumed by didelphid dispersers (Cáceres & Lessa 2012, present study).…”

Section: Germinabilitymentioning

confidence: 67%

“…The annual rainfall ranges from 223 to 1,550 mm, rains occurring mainly in the wet season (OctoberMarch), although some rain may occur during the dry season (April-September). The average annual temperature ranges from 17°C to 19°C (Neves et al 2005;Lessa & Costa 2010).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the neotropics, the role of didelphids as potential seed dispersers is usually related to the consumption of a wide variety of fruits and the presence of intact seeds in their feces with generally increased germinability (Cáceres & Monteiro-Filho 2007;Raíces & Bergallo 2008;Lessa & Costa 2010;Cáceres & Lessa 2012). However, the process of gut scarification of the seed coat by passage through the digestive tract of didelphid dispersers does not always have positive effects on the germinability and germination time of the ingested seeds (see Cantor et al 2010;Camargo et al 2011;Cáceres & Lessa 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We chose these species because they were the most abundant marsupial species in the study area (see Lessa & Costa 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of gut passage on the germination of seeds ingested by didelphid marsupials in a neotropical savanna

2013

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We analyzed the effects that passage through the guts of seven didelphid species had on the seed germination of 10 plant species. This study was conducted in an area of riparian woodland in a cerrado (savanna) reserve in southeastern Brazil. We found seeds of 23 angiosperm species in 427 fecal samples obtained from seven didelphid species. The plant families most often represented by the seeds found in the fecal samples were Melastomataceae (5 species) and Rubiaceae (4 species) . Most gut-passed seeds showed no significant difference in germinability when compared with the hand-extracted seeds. Among the ingested seeds, only those of Clidemia urceolata DC. (Melastomataceae) and Myrcia sp. (Myrtaceae) showed an increase in germinability (final proportion of germinated seeds), indicating that didelphid gut passage does not always benefit seed germination. The average germination time of consumed seeds ranged from 12 days (Cipocereus minensis (Werderm.) Ritter) to 171 days (Cordiera sessilis (Vell.) Kuntze). The small number of seeds destroyed after gut passage and the results obtained during the germination experiments underscore the importance of didelphid marsupials to the dynamics of plant reproduction, especially those of small--seeded cerrado species.

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Section: Germinabilitymentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Germinabilitymentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We chose these species because they were the most abundant marsupial species in the study area (see Lessa & Costa 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Effects of gut passage on the germination of seeds ingested by didelphid marsupials in a neotropical savanna

2013

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Ecology of Smaller Animals Associated with Savanna Woody Plants

Seymour

Joseph

2019

Savanna Woody Plants and Large Herbivores

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Availability of food resources and habitat structure shape the individual‐resource network of a Neotropical marsupial

Camargo

Oliveira

Ribeiro

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Spatial and temporal variation in networks has been reported in different studies. However, the many effects of habitat structure and food resource availability variation on network structures have remained poorly investigated, especially in individual‐based networks. This approach can shed light on individual specialization of resource use and how habitat variations shape trophic interactions. To test hypotheses related to habitat variability on trophic interactions, we investigated seasonal and spatial variation in network structure of four populations of the marsupial Gracilinanus agilis in the highly seasonal tropical savannas of the Brazilian Cerrado. We evaluated such variation with network nestedness and modularity considering both cool‐dry and warm‐wet seasons, and related such variations with food resource availability and habitat structure (considered in the present study as environmental variation) in four sites of savanna woodland forest. Network analyses showed that modularity (but not nestedness) was consistently lower during the cool‐dry season in all G. agilis populations. Our results indicated that nestedness is related to habitat structure, showing that this metric increases in sites with thick and spaced trees. On the other hand, modularity was positively related to diversity of arthropods and abundance of fruits. We propose that the relationship between nestedness and habitat structure is an outcome of individual variation in the vertical space and food resource use by G. agilis in sites with thick and spaced trees. Moreover, individual specialization in resource‐rich and population‐dense periods possibly increased the network modularity of G. agilis . Therefore, our study reveals that environment variability considering spatial and temporal components is important for shaping network structure of populations.

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Diet and seed dispersal by five marsupials (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) in a Brazilian cerrado reserve

Cited by 48 publications

References 16 publications

Effects of gut passage on the germination of seeds ingested by didelphid marsupials in a neotropical savanna

Effects of gut passage on the germination of seeds ingested by didelphid marsupials in a neotropical savanna

Ecology of Smaller Animals Associated with Savanna Woody Plants

Availability of food resources and habitat structure shape the individual‐resource network of a Neotropical marsupial

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