Plant‐frugivore interactions in an intact tropical forest in north‐east Thailand

Sankamethawee, Wangworn; Pierce, Andrew J.; Gale, George; Hardesty, Britta Denise

doi:10.1111/j.1749-4877.2011.00244.x

Cited by 29 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…1) and Ipomea spp., although we do not know to what extent the pollen of these species can remain attached to the smooth skin of lizards. Size constraints, accessibility and phenological uncoupling shape interaction patterns (Sankamethawee et al 2011) and likely explain why some types of pollen are more frequently carried by lava lizards than others. Phenotypic trait matching in particular deserves attention in future research in the Galápagos as it can be an important driver of plant-pollinator interactions (Biddick & Burns 2018).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential role of lava lizards as pollinators across the Galápagos Islands

Hervías‐Parejo

Nogales

Guzmán

et al. 2020

Integrative Zoology

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Lizards have been reported as important pollinators on several oceanic islands. Here we evaluate the potential role of Galápagos lava lizards (Microlophus spp.) as pollinators across their radiation. Over 3 years, we sampled pollen transport by 9 lava lizard species on the 10 islands where they are present, including 7 single‐island endemics. Overall, only 25 of 296 individuals sampled (8.4%) transported pollen of 10 plant species, the most common being Prosopis juliflora, Exodeconus miersii, Sesuvium sp. and Cordia leucophlyctis. At least 8 of these plant species were native, and none were confirmed as introduced to the archipelago. Despite the low overall proportion of individuals carrying pollen, this was observed in 7 of the nine lizard species, and on 8 of the ten main islands (Española, Fernandina, Floreana, Isabela, Marchena, Pinta, Santa Cruz and Santiago), suggesting that this is a widespread interaction. The results reported here support the potential role of lava lizards as pollinators across their radiation, although they may represent a relatively modest contribution when compared with birds and insects. However, we cannot discard that lizards may be ecologically significant for particular plant species and ecosystems given the specific climatic condition and functional diversity of each island.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential role of lava lizards as pollinators across the Galápagos Islands

Hervías‐Parejo

Nogales

Guzmán

et al. 2020

Integrative Zoology

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“…This is the first study to comprehensively document plant‐disperser networks from the wet tropical forests of South Asia and one of few studies from wet tropical forests of Asia (see Sankamethawee, Pierce, Gale, & Hardesty, ). By using a combination of network and seed dispersal effectiveness approaches, we show that large avian frugivores, especially hornbills, may not play a central role in the organization of the plant‐disperser community, but are crucial for large‐seeded tree species by dispersing higher numbers of seeds and handling fruits better.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large frugivores matter: Insights from network and seed dispersal effectiveness approaches

Naniwadekar

Chaplod

Rathore

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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While large avian frugivores are known to be key dispersers for large‐seeded tree species, their role in community‐wide plant‐disperser networks is still poorly known. Large avian frugivores are also among the most threatened due to anthropogenic impacts. We evaluated the role of large avian frugivores in a plant‐disperser community by (a) determining whether the plant‐disperser community was modular, with a distinct community of large frugivores (thereby highlighting their importance), (b) determining relative qualitative and quantitative roles played by large‐bodied frugivores vis‐à‐vis other frugivores and (c) determining impacts of large‐bodied frugivore loss on the plant‐disperser community. The study was carried out at a tropical forest site in north‐east India, which is part of the Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot. We collected tree watch data (20:55 hr) from 46 tree species, which represented 85% of tree species that are predominantly bird‐dispersed in the area. We found that the plant‐disperser community was modular, with a distinct module of large‐seeded tree species and large frugivores. Intermediate‐sized frugivores such as barbets and bulbuls were the most connected, while large‐sized frugivores, such as hornbills and imperial pigeons, were moderately well connected. Qualitative and quantitative roles played by different dispersers varied across the gradient of frugivore body size. Hornbills, the largest avian frugivores, consumed a significantly greater number of fruits and swallowed larger proportions of fruits compared with other avian groups. In comparison with similar‐sized frugivores, imperial pigeons fed on larger‐sized fruits, highlighting their importance for dispersal of large‐seeded plants. Under simulated extinction scenarios, larger extinction cascades were not necessarily caused by larger frugivores; however, extinctions of certain large‐bodied frugivores (hornbills, imperial pigeons) caused extinction cascades. Integrating information from networks and seed dispersal effectiveness approaches enabled a better understanding of large frugivore role in a plant‐disperser community. While large‐bodied frugivores may not be playing a central role in plant‐disperser communities, they are crucial as seed dispersal service providers for large‐seeded plants. In conjunction with the reported local extinctions of large frugivores like hornbills from the south Asian region, this study’s findings highlight the irreplaceable quantitative and qualitative impacts that tropical plant communities are likely to experience in the future.

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“…Khao Yai National Park still contains a high diversity of largely frugivorous arboreal mammal and bird species, including gibbons ( Hylobates lar and Hylobates pileatus ), macaques ( Macaca leonina ), civets (five species), bears ( Ursus thibetana , Helarctos malayanus ), hornbills (four species) and other smaller frugivorous birds such as barbets, orioles, pigeons, mynas and bulbuls (Lynam, Round, & Brockelman, ). Gibbons (Brockelman et al., ; McConkey & Brockelman, ; McConkey, Brockelman, Saralamba, & Nathalang, ; Whittington & Treesucon, ), macaques (Albert, Hambuckers, et al., ), deer (Brodie, Helmy, Brockelman, & Maron, ; Chanthorn & Brockelman, ), bears (Ngoprasert, Steinmetz, Reed, Savini, & Gale, ), hornbills (Kitamura et al., , ) and smaller birds (Khamcha et al., ; Sankamethawee, Pierce, Gale, & Hardesty, ) are all potentially important seed dispersers in the Mo Singto area of Khao Yai Park. The most probable seed dispersers of tree species in the Mo Singto plot are shown in Table based on extensive observations of Kitamura et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of local species richness reveal importance of frugivores for tropical forest diversity

et al. 2017

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Seed dispersal by frugivores, particularly primates, plays an important role in structuring and maintaining tree diversity in tropical forests. However, little is known about the effect of frugivores on the diversity of saplings and large trees. We used detailed census data from the fully mapped 30‐ha Mo Singto forest dynamics plot in Thailand together with spatial point pattern analysis to find out if the local species richness of small (dbh <10 cm) and large (dbh ≥10 cm) trees in the neighbourhood of large trees of 52 focal species was larger or smaller than expected by an appropriate null model. We then used binary data (+ or 0) on the seed dispersal network at the Mo Singto plot to test the hypothesis that the major primate frugivores, rather than other arboreal frugivores, generated patterns of locally increased species richness around their preferred diet species (i.e. accumulator effects). More than half of the focal species showed accumulator effects with respect to species richness of small trees (<10 cm in diameter), but accumulator effects with respect to large trees were weak and not consistent with those of small trees. Primate‐dispersed focal species (but not hornbill‐ or other smaller bird‐dispersed species) showed significantly larger positive effect sizes than the remaining focal species. Synthesis. Our analysis suggests that primates—as major drivers of contagious seed dispersal—generate species‐rich seed rain around their preferred food‐tree species, which results in significantly larger local species richness of saplings. This is likely a consequence of heterospecific seed rain that reduces negative density dependence, and the presence of the accumulator pattern which persists at least until the large‐size stage. Hence, extirpation of primates may result in significant changes in the diversity and spatial structure of tropical forests.

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Plant‐frugivore interactions in an intact tropical forest in north‐east Thailand

Cited by 29 publications

References 35 publications

Potential role of lava lizards as pollinators across the Galápagos Islands

Potential role of lava lizards as pollinators across the Galápagos Islands

Large frugivores matter: Insights from network and seed dispersal effectiveness approaches

Spatial patterns of local species richness reveal importance of frugivores for tropical forest diversity

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