Freshwater Sardines of the Pantanal Delay Seed Germination in a Floodplain Tree Species

An overview on the effects of fish consumption on seed germination: Pitfalls, challenges, and directions

“…However, this index has received a lot of criticism, particularly in ecological studies, mainly because it has no clear biological meaning Mayer, 1986, 1988). For instance, Yule et al (2016) observed that control seeds of Banara arguta (Salicaceae) have a germination speed index twice the rate of seeds consumed by the freshwater sardine (Triportheus nematurus) in the Pantanal wetlands. Does this statistically significant difference in GSI values have important biological consequences?…”

<b>Opportunistic diet of <i>Triportheus nematurus</i> (Characiformes: Triportheidae) in Southern Pantanal ponds: influences of temporal availability and abundance of resources

“…The ingestion of fruits and seeds during the flood period has been discussed by some authors in order to investigate the beneficial and antagonistic interactions between fishes and vegetables. It has been suggested that in several cases, fishes and plants can interact though mutualism (Costa-Pereira, Severo-Neto, Yule & Tinti, 2011;Yule et al, 2016). Since that, when consuming fruits, this animals can remove the pulp, that involves the seeds, and act on its dormancy breaking; in addition, to transport and dispersing them and thus contributing to the diversity maintenance in vegetable communities (Souza, 2005).…”

“…In natural environments subject to seasonal alterations related to the hydrologic level, rainfall and/or temperature, it is expected that the alimentary resources used by the fish species has been through cyclical changes, which may alter the species' feeding (Hahn & Fugi, 2007). Studies have shown that various food resources that are exploited by fish, especially of plant origin, may become available or more abundant in the aquatic environment during floods, such as fruits (Corrêa, Costa-Pereira, Fleming, Goulding, & Anderson, 2015;Yule, Severo-Neto, Tinti-Pereira, & Costa, 2016), aquatic plants (Pott, Pott, Lima, Moreira, & Oliveira, 2011) and phytoplankton (Oliveira & Calheiros, 2000). In contrast, some resources, mainly of animal origin, such as benthic fauna, tend to present greater abundances and densities during periods of drought (Winemiller et al, 2014).…”

Diploendozoochory in Neotropical fish makes seed germination unlikely

“…In aquatic ecosystems, a growing number of studies have demonstrated the importance of fish as dispersers and how the loss of fish species can lead to the collapse of this ecosystem service (e.g., Yule et al, 2016). Although these studies have documented the dispersal of seeds by frugivorous fish, none deals with diploendozoochory.…”