Diplochory: are two seed dispersers better than one?

Wall, Stephen B. Vander; Longland, William S.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2003.12.004

Cited by 282 publications

(272 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Overall, longdistance dispersal (wind, water and vertebrate) was neither more nor less common on serpentine. Differences were also not consistent with predictions regarding directed dispersal (Howe and Smallwood 1982;Wenny 2001;Vander Wall and Longland 2004) because less directed (wind) dispersal was higher in the patchy serpentine environment and more directed (vertebrate) dispersal was lower (Figure 2). Directed dispersal relies on two factors being important in determining the dispersal potential of a community: preferential survival in specific locations and non-random arrival (Howe and Smallwood 1982;Wenny 2001;Vander Wall and Longland 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Differences were also not consistent with predictions regarding directed dispersal (Howe and Smallwood 1982;Wenny 2001;Vander Wall and Longland 2004) because less directed (wind) dispersal was higher in the patchy serpentine environment and more directed (vertebrate) dispersal was lower (Figure 2). Directed dispersal relies on two factors being important in determining the dispersal potential of a community: preferential survival in specific locations and non-random arrival (Howe and Smallwood 1982;Wenny 2001;Vander Wall and Longland 2004). Our results suggest that non-random arrival i.e., filtering for species with particular dispersal syndromes able to reach distant sites, does not play a major role in the assembly of communities on serpentine soils (Howe and Smallwood 1982;Wenny 2001;Vander Wall and Longland 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Directed dispersal relies on two factors being important in determining the dispersal potential of a community: preferential survival in specific locations and non-random arrival (Howe and Smallwood 1982;Wenny 2001;Vander Wall and Longland 2004). Our results suggest that non-random arrival i.e., filtering for species with particular dispersal syndromes able to reach distant sites, does not play a major role in the assembly of communities on serpentine soils (Howe and Smallwood 1982;Wenny 2001;Vander Wall and Longland 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

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Patterns of seed dispersal syndromes on serpentine soils: examining the roles of habitat patchiness, soil infertility and correlated functional traits

Spasojevic

Damschen

Harrison

2012

Plant Ecology & Diversity

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Patterns of seed dispersal syndromes on serpentine soils: examining the roles of habitat patchiness, soil infertility and correlated functional traits

Spasojevic

Damschen

Harrison

2012

Plant Ecology & Diversity

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“…The buried seeds are protected against invertebrates and sit in ideal conditions to germinate and establish into seedlings if the animals fail to recover them (15). Scatter-hoarding rodents are already known to disperse seeds that they collect from dung piles (12,16,17). These rodents could have then become primary dispersers of megafaunal plant species after Pleistocene megafauna disappeared (1), an example of "evolutionary partner switching" by the plant (18).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Thieving rodents as substitute dispersers of megafaunal seeds

Jansen

Hirsch

Emsens

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

258

305

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The Neotropics have many plant species that seem to be adapted for seed dispersal by megafauna that went extinct in the late Pleistocene. Given the crucial importance of seed dispersal for plant persistence, it remains a mystery how these plants have survived more than 10,000 y without their mutualist dispersers. Here we present support for the hypothesis that secondary seed dispersal by scatterhoarding rodents has facilitated the persistence of these largeseeded species. We used miniature radio transmitters to track the dispersal of reputedly megafaunal seeds by Central American agoutis, which scatter-hoard seeds in shallow caches in the soil throughout the forest. We found that seeds were initially cached at mostly short distances and then quickly dug up again. However, rather than eating the recovered seeds, agoutis continued to move and recache the seeds, up to 36 times. Agoutis dispersed an estimated 35% of seeds for >100 m. An estimated 14% of the cached seeds survived to the next year, when a new fruit crop became available to the rodents. Serial video-monitoring of cached seeds revealed that the stepwise dispersal was caused by agoutis repeatedly stealing and recaching each other's buried seeds. Although previous studies suggest that rodents are poor dispersers, we demonstrate that communities of rodents can in fact provide highly effective long-distance seed dispersal. Our findings suggest that thieving scatter-hoarding rodents could substitute for extinct megafaunal seed dispersers of tropical large-seeded trees.Pleistocene extinctions | seed predation | cache pilferage | telemetry

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“…Combination of a few different mechanisms often provides greater benefits than do most single means. These benefits are mostly the extension of dispersal distance and moving seeds to safe germination sites (Vander Wall and Longland 2004). Animals can also play a role in secondary dispersal, when seeds that are on the ground are moved to other locations, and as a vector in non-standard dispersal, when a factor which cannot be linked to seed morphology is involved in seed spreading (Wang and Smith 2002;Higgins et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rook Spring Seed Dispersal in the Agricultural Landscape – Frugivory, Granivory or Accidental Transport?

Czarnecka

Kitowski

2012

Folia Geobot

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Seed dispersal seems to be extremely important in agrocoenoses where suitable habitats (patches) are surrounded by an unfavourable environment (matrix). The role of the rook Corvus frugilegus, an omnivorous bird, in seed dispersal was studied in the agricultural landscape of Eastern Poland. We analyzed 739 pellets produced by regurgitation, which were collected under breeding colonies in April, May and June. Our goal was to i) assess the structure of the seed pool in pellets; ii) evaluate the temporal variation in the pellet seed pool on two different time scales; iii) compare the species composition of seeds in pellets and vegetation under the rook nests. Seeds were present in 18 % of pellets; 571 seeds were found, half of them belonging to dry-fruited species, without any obvious adaptations to endozoochory. These seeds could be an additional source of food, or they could have been accidentally swallowed during foraging for other food items. Taking into consideration the abundance of the rook population, we assessed the mean number of seeds transferred by one bird to be from 4 seeds per month in April and up to 160 seeds in June. The most important factor responsible for qualitative and quantitative structure of seed pool in pellets is the time when pellets were regurgitated. The type and availability of food determines the number and species structure of dispersed seeds. The comparison of the species structure of the seed pool in pellets and of the herb layer under the breeding colonies showed that the rook could effectively disperse seeds of weeds, meadow and ruderal species, that could germinate under the dense canopy of trees at the studied sites.

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Diplochory: are two seed dispersers better than one?

Cited by 282 publications

References 52 publications

Patterns of seed dispersal syndromes on serpentine soils: examining the roles of habitat patchiness, soil infertility and correlated functional traits

Patterns of seed dispersal syndromes on serpentine soils: examining the roles of habitat patchiness, soil infertility and correlated functional traits

Thieving rodents as substitute dispersers of megafaunal seeds

Rook Spring Seed Dispersal in the Agricultural Landscape – Frugivory, Granivory or Accidental Transport?

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