Seed inflow to a forest patch promoted by understory frugivorous birds

Gomes, Verônica Souza da Mota; Tamashiro, Jorge Yoshio; Silva, Wesley Rodrigues

doi:10.1590/s1676-06032011000400010

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The same pattern was recorded in Puerto Rico and central Amazonia (Wunderle et al 1987;Henriques et al 2003). Despite the low capture rates, the positive correlation we observed between fruit availability and frugivore abundance corroborates the hypothesis that resource availability attracts these birds to the gaps (Willson et al 1982;Blake and Hoppes 1986;Gomes et al 2011).…”

Section: Distribution Of Trophic Guildssupporting

confidence: 87%

Birds associated with treefall gaps in a lowland forest in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia

Lima

Guilherme

2021

Acta Amaz.

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Natural communities are dynamic systems in time and space. The spatial distribution of plants and animals tends to coincide with the availability of resources needed for the survival and reproduction of each species. Natural treefall gaps offer a number of resources that influence the distribution of birds within the forest. We compared the understory bird assemblages of natural treefall gaps (15 sampling points) with those found in the adjacent forest (15 points) in the Humaitá Forest Reserve in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia. We used mist-nets to sample birds and obtained 700 captures of 105 species. Species richness, number of individuals, and species composition were all similar between gaps and forest, although six species presented some degree of association with the gaps, and nine with the forest. Nectarivores preferred gaps significantly over forest, whereas insectivores and frugivores were distributed equally between gaps and forest. Vegetation height and density differed between gaps and forest, and influenced the distribution of bird species in the two environments. Fruit availability was positively correlated with frugivore abundance in gaps. Overall, 33.3% of the birds associated with the treefall gaps are from lower forest canopy, while the others are understory species. We showed that the use of natural gaps by birds in a fragmented landscape of the Amazon forest contributes to the environmental heterogeneity and succession dynamics following natural events of habitat disturbance.

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Section: Distribution Of Trophic Guildssupporting

confidence: 87%

Birds associated with treefall gaps in a lowland forest in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia

Lima

Guilherme

2021

Acta Amaz.

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“…Since there are no any agricultural activities ongoing in the neighborhood of the Msubugwe forest, the lack of the woodland/savannah species in this forest supports the argument above that practicing agriculture near protected forests paves way for exotic species such as woodland/savannah birds to access forested habitats. Indeed, as the sustainable management of the coastal forests of northeastern Tanzania is of great concern, this is alarming particularly if the bird species that are favoured include frugivores as there can be a risk of propagating exotic tree species with eventual competitive exclusion of the indigenous ones [5,38].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On telling the status and complexity of forest ecosystems, understory bird species composition is of particular consideration [1][2][3]. The role of understory birds in shaping the forests ranges from seed dispersal [4,5] to pollination as well as pest control [6], among others. However, persistence of most species of this ecological guild within forested habitat is determined by many factors, such as canopy cover and vegetation stratification [7][8][9], and microclimatic conditions [10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, in most of tropical landscapes, these vital factors which define forest structures are subject of haphazard modification following human actions such as man-made fires and unsustainable use of the forest resources-with ultimate negative consequences on bird diversity [11,[13][14][15][16]. Under this scenario, the role of understory birds in particular frugivores is indispensable mainly on dispersal of seeds to fill gaps that are left behind after negative anthropogenic activities including uncontrolled harvest of forest flora-the process which helps in ecological succession and recovery of habitats [4,5]. An additional, yet important role of forest understory birds can be noted within the agriculture sector, whereby loss or decline of understory insectivores owing to habitat degradation, for example, has obvious implications including crop loss as a result of increased abundance in invertebrate pests [1,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Species Composition of Tropical Understory Birds in Threatened East African Coastal Forests Based on Capture Data

Modest¹,

Hassan²

2016

International Journal of Zoology

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The East African coastal forests are subject of haphazard modification following anthropogenic pressures including tree cutting and clearing for agriculture. These activities, which are leading cause of habitat disturbance and species loss, are the major challenge in the management of sensitive wildlife species such as forest understory birds. This study investigated species composition of understory birds in the coastal forests of northeastern Tanzania to generate information for the management of the landscape and biodiversity in the area. Using mist nets, birds were trapped from core and edge habitats of representative forest patches. Trapped birds were classified to species level and categorized into bird guilds based on their levels of forest dependence. It was found out that species richness was influenced by forest patch size rather than level of habitat disturbance. Edge habitat was also found to be important in hosting higher number of forest understory birds, especially generalists—but this should be treated with caution because following habitat destruction that is ongoing in the study area, there is a danger of generalist wiping out specialist species due to competitive exclusion. Strict control measures to stop illegal tree cutting and agricultural activities near the forests were recommended for sustainable conservation of the understory birds in the forests.

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“…Besides spatial distribution types of LPs within the SFs, fluctuated seed production (masting seed: the intermittent production of large seed crops by a plant population) and seed shedding (seed rain) have effects on animal-plant interactions [31,32]. Seed abundance and availability changing with masting year and seed rain arekey factors likely to influence scatterhoarder's strategy [33,34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Converting Larch Plantations to Larch-Walnut Mixed Stands: Effects of Spatial Distribution Pattern of Larch Plantations on the Rodent-Mediated Seed Dispersal of Juglans mandshurica

Wang

Yan

Zhang

et al. 2018

Forests

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Larch (Larix spp.) is planted after a clear-cut of secondary forests (SFs) to meet the timber demand of Northeast China. However, the declination of soil fertility and the acidification of surface runoff in larch plantations (LPs) resulting from mono-species composition have threatened the sustainable development of LPs. Converting pure LPs into larch-walnut mixed forests can solve those problems, in which it is crucial to promote the seed regeneration of Juglans mandshurica in LPs. The success of walnut seed regeneration is dependent on rodent removing seed away from mother trees and the dispersal processes rely on the stand structure. The spatial distribution pattern between LPs and SFs is a type of stand structure that might affect seed dispersal. There are two typical spatial patterns in Northeast China due to different topographical conditions, that is, contour type (C-T, LPs and SFs located at the same slope position and aspect) and downslope type (D-T, LPs located at the down slope of the adjacent SF in the same aspect). The objectives of our study were to verify the effects of the spatial distribution pattern of LPs on rodent-mediated seed dispersal and to determine the optimal spatial distribution type for seed dispersal. The field trial was conducted by releasing tagged J. mandshurica seeds at three stages of seed rain during two continuous growing seasons in two types of spatial distribution patterns for LPs. We found that contour type had a substantial advantage in the rodent-mediated seed dispersal, that is, the dispersal rate and the proportion of scatter-hoarded seeds in LPs of C-T stands were much higher than in D-T stands, respectively. These differences may be caused by the variation in the topographic factor for these two types of spatial distribution pattern of LPs. In the C-T stands, it was a translational motion for rodents to remove walnuts from SFs to LPs, which would be an energy efficient and favorable method of seed dispersal. Fluctuation of seed abundance had an effect on rodent behaviors and seed fates, that is, there was a faster dispersal rate and lower proportion of seeds in situ in the non-masting year of 2015 than in the masting year of 2016 and proportion of scatter-hoarded seeds reached the highest during the early stage and lowest at the middle stage of seed rain. Thus, the contour type of LPs with a favorable terrain advantage is potentially conducive to dispersing walnut seeds by rodents during early stage of seed rain and converting larch plantations into larch-walnut mixed forests.

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Seed inflow to a forest patch promoted by understory frugivorous birds

Cited by 7 publications

References 34 publications

Birds associated with treefall gaps in a lowland forest in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia

Birds associated with treefall gaps in a lowland forest in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia

Species Composition of Tropical Understory Birds in Threatened East African Coastal Forests Based on Capture Data

Converting Larch Plantations to Larch-Walnut Mixed Stands: Effects of Spatial Distribution Pattern of Larch Plantations on the Rodent-Mediated Seed Dispersal of Juglans mandshurica

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