Seed removal patterns of pioneer trees in an agricultural landscape

Rocha‐Ortega, Maya; Bartimachi, Alessandra; Neves, Jorge; Bruna, Emilio M.; Vasconcelos, Heraldo L.

doi:10.1007/s11258-017-0725-y

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Although some studies have shown negative effects (i.e. decreasing removal rate and dispersal distance; Almeida, Mayhé‐Nunes, & Queiroz, ; Leal, Andersen, & Leal, ; Rocha‐Ortega, Bartimachi, Neves, Bruna, & Valsconcelos, ), others have shown effects to be positive (i.e. increasing removal rate and dispersal distance; Parr, Andersen, Chastagnol, & Duffaud, ; Dominguez‐Haydar & Armbrecht, ; Beaumont, Mackay, & Whalen, ) or neutral (Ness, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of increasing aridity and chronic anthropogenic disturbance on seed dispersal by ants in Brazilian Caatinga

Oliveira

Andersen

Arnán

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Anthropogenic disturbance and climate change are the main drivers of biodiversity loss and ecological services around the globe. There is concern that climate change will exacerbate the impacts of disturbance and thereby promote biotic homogenization, but its consequences for ecological services are unknown. We investigated the individual and interactive effects of increasing chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) and aridity on seed dispersal services provided by ants in Caatinga vegetation of north‐eastern Brazil. The study was conducted in Catimbau National Park, Pernambuco, Brazil. Within an area of 214 km2, we established nineteen 50 × 20 m plots that encompassed gradients of both CAD and aridity. We offered diaspores of six plant species, three myrmecochorous diaspores and three fleshy fruits that are secondarily dispersed by ants. We then quantified the number of interactions, seed removal rate and dispersal distances, and noted the identities of interacting ant species. Finally, we used pitfall trap data to quantify the abundances of ant disperser species in each plot. Our results show that overall composition of ant disperser species varied along the gradients of CAD and aridity, but the composition of high‐quality dispersers varied only with aridity. The total number of interactions, rates of removal and mean distance of removal all declined with increasing aridity, but they were not related to CAD. These same patterns were found when considering only high‐quality disperser species, driven by the responses of the dominant disperser Dinoponera quadriceps. We found little evidence of interactive effects of CAD and aridity on seed dispersal services by ants. Our study indicates that CAD and aridity act independently on ant‐mediated seed dispersal services in Caatinga, such that the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance are unlikely to change under the forecast climate of increased aridity. However, our findings highlight the vulnerability of seed dispersal services provided by ants in Caatinga under an increasingly arid climate due to low functional redundancy in high‐quality disperser species. Given the large number of plant species dependent on ants for seed dispersal, this has important implications for future plant recruitment and, consequently, for the composition of Caatinga plant communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of increasing aridity and chronic anthropogenic disturbance on seed dispersal by ants in Brazilian Caatinga

Oliveira

Andersen

Arnán

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…However, we think a future research would be interesting to evaluate and compare other periods of seed removal exposure, in order to verify if higher seed removal exposition (i.e. 48 h and 96 h as done by Rocha-Ortega et al, 2017;Ferreira et al, 2011 respectively) increases percentage of seed removal increasing the robustness of the study. Besides, we also consider important to evaluate other parameters of seed removal process such as seed-removing ant composition in diurnal and nocturnal periods, as well as, comparisons of these parameters between non-impacted and impacted sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some researchers have determined the proportion of seeds removed by ants only after a period of 22 or 24 hours (Christianini et al, 2007;Bieber et al, 2014) or 48 hours (Rocha-Ortega et al, 2017) or 96 hours of seed exposure (Ferreira et al, 2011). Other studies followed this process during the morning and/or afternoon, with different periods of time of observation (Parr et al, 2007;Christianini et al, 2012;Gallegos et al, 2014;Leal et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed removal by ants in Brazilian savanna: optimizing fieldwork

et al. 2018

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There has been an increase in the number of studies using seed removal by ants to evaluate ecosystem functioning; however, these studies encompassed varying time periods and used different types of seeds. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate differences in the proportion of seeds removed by ants in impacted and non-impacted sites in Brazilian savanna. Furthermore, we evaluated seed removal (1) during the morning and after a 24h period of seed exposure and (2) using natural and artificial seeds (manipulated resource to resemble natural seeds). The proportion of seeds removed was higher after the 24h exposure period (artificial seeds) regardless of site status, and more artificial seeds were removed than natural seeds. Our recommendations regarding sampling period depend on whether evaluating impacted or non-impacted sites. Although seed removal was greater after 24h in both impacted and non-impacted sites, we suggest that research evaluating the proportion of seeds removed in non-impacted sites should be performed only in the morning period to optimize the sampling time (removal of 60% during this period). When the aim is to compare non-impacted and impacted sites, we suggest evaluating after 24h of exposure, since the impacted sites experienced a higher proportion of seed removal during the afternoon and/or night time periods. Furthermore, we recommend the use of artificial seeds because they are easier to obtain and manipulate, and allow us to do comparisons between studies at different regions. We consider these findings an important first step towards standardizing future research on seed removal in Brazilian savannas by facilitating fieldwork and allowing comparisons to be made among different studies.

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“…Seed addition decreased recruitment limitation for some species (Supporting Information Table S4; see also Ferreira, Bruna, & Vasconcelos, 2011), indicating that a higher seed production may benefit plant recruitment. Although harsh abiotic conditions and post-germination processes such as seedling herbivory may influence the likelihood of further seedling establishment (Costa, Vasconcelos, & Bruna, 2017;Hoffmann, Orthen, & Franco, 2004;Rocha-Ortega, Bartimachi, Neves, Bruna, & Vasconcelos, 2017), the massive seed rain of fire-sensitive species may increase the chances that some seeds reach safe sites for recruitment.…”

Section: N S I G H T Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire‐sensitive species dominate seed rain after fire suppression: Implications for plant community diversity and woody encroachment in the Cerrado

2019

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Woody encroachment is becoming common in tropical savannas. We studied natural seed rain and performed seed addition experiments in a Brazilian savanna that had not been burned for several decades. We found greater abundance of fire‐sensitive species in the seed rain, likely contributing to woody encroachment. Flexible fire management policies that allow for natural and prescribed fires may be required to maintain savanna diversity.

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Seed removal patterns of pioneer trees in an agricultural landscape

Cited by 14 publications

References 64 publications

Effects of increasing aridity and chronic anthropogenic disturbance on seed dispersal by ants in Brazilian Caatinga

Effects of increasing aridity and chronic anthropogenic disturbance on seed dispersal by ants in Brazilian Caatinga

Seed removal by ants in Brazilian savanna: optimizing fieldwork

Fire‐sensitive species dominate seed rain after fire suppression: Implications for plant community diversity and woody encroachment in the Cerrado

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