Dispersal of vascular plants by four species of wild mammals in a deciduous forest in NE Germany

Heinken, Thilo; Hanspach, Heike; Raudnitschka, Dorit; Schaumann, Friederike

doi:10.1127/0340-269x/2002/0032-0627

Cited by 66 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is also a type of 'plant community memory', storing past events (Harper 1977). Classical studies on soil seed banks concentrate mainly on their longevity, richness and diversity in relation to aboveground vegetation in early or late successional communities within almost all kinds of ecosystems (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endozoochory by European bison influences the build-up of the soil seed bank in subcontinental coniferous forest

Jaroszewicz

2013

Eur J Forest Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The faeces of large herbivores include viable seeds of many plant species. With dung decomposition, some seeds migrate into the soil and influence seed bank build-up. However, only a few papers report evidence of this process, and only from grasslands. In forest studies, this subject has so far been neglected. Therefore, I ask in this paper whether seeds present in the dung of European bison migrate to the forest soil seed bank and influence its buildup. I sampled soil from underneath European bison dung pats and from surrounding areas (control samples). Samples were divided into shallow (0-5 cm) and deep (5-10 cm) series. Soil seed bank content was studied in the greenhouse for 2 years. The shallow seed bank under dung pats was characterized by the highest species richness (49 species) and seed density ([2,000 m -2 ). Urtica dioica, Juncus effusus and Carex remota showed a demonstrable increase in seed density in the shallow seed bank underneath dung. Three years after dung deposition, seeds of endozoochoric origin influenced the soil seed bank of coniferous forest. U. dioica, J. effusus, C. remota and other species of deciduous forests and grasslands (Agrostis capillaris, Milium effusum, Polygonum hydropiper, Polygonum mite, Scrophularia nodosa, Stachys sylvatica, Veronica chamaedrys) caused an increase in seed density (by 61 %) and species richness (by 33 %) of the shallow soil seed bank underneath dung in comparison with the control soil seed bank.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endozoochory by European bison influences the build-up of the soil seed bank in subcontinental coniferous forest

Jaroszewicz

2013

Eur J Forest Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Today the main vectors for long-distance transport of diaspores within and between European temperate forest patches are wild birds and large mammals, and modern forestry itself by means of machines or cars (Bonn & Poschlod 1998, Gill & Beardall 2001. While the effects of fruit consumption by vertebrate frugivores (mainly birds) on seed dispersal has received considerable attention (Bonn & Poschlod 1998, Kollmann 2000, only recently wild large mammals came into focus as effective epi-and endozoochorous dispersers of a wide range of plant species (Mrotzek, Halder & Schmidt 1999, Welander & Weibull 2000, Heinken, Hanspach, Raudnitschka & Schaumann 2002, Schmidt, Sommer, Kriebitzsch, Ellenberg & von Oheimb 2004. Epizoochorous dispersal of diaspores on fur and feet of large mammals is presumed to be among the most important long-distance dispersal mechanisms because of a long retention time of several hours up to several days and large home ranges during a single day.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil seed banks near rubbing trees indicate dispersal of plant species into forests by wild boar

Heinken

Schmidt²,

Oheimb

et al. 2006

Basic and Applied Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Here we use a specific habit of wild boar, i.e. wallowing in mud and subsequent rubbing against trees, to evaluate epizoic dispersal of vascular plant diaspores. We present soil seed bank data from 27 rubbing trees versus 27 control trees from seven forest areas in Germany. The mean number of viable seeds and the plant species number were higher in soil samples near rubbing trees compared with control trees. Ten of the 20 most frequent species were more frequent, and many species exclusively appeared in the soil samples near rubbing trees. The large number of plant species and seeds -approximated > 1000 per tree -in the soils near rubbing trees is difficult to explain unless the majority were dispersed by wild boar. Hooked and bristly diaspores, i.e. those adapted to epizoochory, were more frequent, above that many species with unspecialised diaspores occurred exclusively near rubbing trees. Different to plant species closely tied to forest species which occur both in forest and open vegetation, and non-forest species were more frequent near rubbing trees compared with controls. These findings are consistent with previous studies on diaspore loads in the coats and hooves of shot wild boars. However, our method allows to identify the transport of diaspores from the open landscape into forest stands where they might especially emerge after disturbance, and a clustered distribution of epizoochorically dispersed seeds. Moreover, accumulation of seeds of wetness indicators near rubbing trees demonstrates directed dispersal of plant species inhabiting wet places between remote wallows. Zusammenfassung

show abstract

“…The wild ungulates present in the Pyrenees -red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), izard (Rupicapra pyrenaica), mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) -are known to disperse mostly seeds from open habitats (Heinken et al 2002) and over shorter distances (unpublished results). Hence, brown bears in the Pyrenees are likely to play a unique complementary role as long-distance seed dispersers of forest plants.…”

Section: Spring Summermentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the potential of brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) as a long-distance seed disperser: a pilot study in South-Western Europe

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant dispersal is crucial to maintaining plant community dynamics, especially in the current context of rapid environmental changes such as global warming and landscape fragmentation. We seized the opportunity to carry out a pilot study on endozoochorous dispersal by the endangered Pyrenean brown bear. We based our study on faeces collected by the Brown Bear Network and location data from three bears fitted with GPS collars and translocated from Slovenia to the Pyrenees in 2006. We studied 39 faecal samples, 25 of which contained seeds from two to three different taxa. We identified a total of 47 plant taxa, 30 to the genus level and 21 to the species level. The seeds from plants bearing fleshy fruits: Vaccinium myrtillus or uliginosum, Rubus idaeus, Malus sylvestris and Sorbus sp., but also dry fruits: Thymus sp., Betula pendula or alba, were the most frequently recovered. We estimated average distances moved by bears to vary from 0.85 to 1.34 km over a 6-h period, corresponding to the median gut retention time, GRT 50% for their berry-based diet in summer and fall. Bears may thus promote the long-distance dispersal of fleshy forest fruits, over longer distances than other sympatric mammals, involved in the dispersal of plants from open areas.

show abstract

Dispersal of vascular plants by four species of wild mammals in a deciduous forest in NE Germany

Cited by 66 publications

References 0 publications

Endozoochory by European bison influences the build-up of the soil seed bank in subcontinental coniferous forest

Endozoochory by European bison influences the build-up of the soil seed bank in subcontinental coniferous forest

Soil seed banks near rubbing trees indicate dispersal of plant species into forests by wild boar

Exploring the potential of brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) as a long-distance seed disperser: a pilot study in South-Western Europe

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About