Selective Predation on the Seeds of Woody Plants

Meiners, Scott J.; Stiles, Edmund W.

doi:10.2307/2996599

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Viburnum opulus was not included in this study. However, Viburnum species generally seem to be particularly attractive to rodent seed predators, as also observed by Meiners & Stiles (1997) in a comparison of V. dentatum with eight other woody species in old‐fields in New Jersey.…”

Section: Herbivory and Diseasesupporting

confidence: 53%

Viburnum lantana L. and Viburnum opulus L. (V. lobatum Lam., Opulus vulgaris Borkh.)

Kollmann

Grubb

2002

Journal of Ecology

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Section: Herbivory and Diseasesupporting

confidence: 53%

Viburnum lantana L. and Viburnum opulus L. (V. lobatum Lam., Opulus vulgaris Borkh.)

Kollmann

Grubb

2002

Journal of Ecology

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“…Small seeds of A. mexicanum had both greater total survival and lower mortality rates than did large seeds (Figs 2, 3). These results are congruous with some studies indicating that small rodents prefer species with large seeds (in tropical forest: Adler 1995; in temperate communities: Reynolds 1958, Abbott 1962, Reichman 1975, Podolsky and Price 1990, Reader 1993, Hoffman et al 1994, although this preference is far from being a universal trend (in tropical forest: Osunkoya 1994, Blate et al 1998; in temperate communities: Price 1983, Price and Podolsky 1989, Kerley and Erasmus 1991, Meiners and Stiles 1997, Kollman et al 1998.…”

Section: Seed Size Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 54%

Predation and dispersal of large and small seeds of a tropical palm

Brewer¹

2001

Oikos

131

105

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Seed size may vary greatly among individuals within plant species. What effects the extremes of this variation have for seeds taken by small mammals are poorly understood. Not all seeds removed by small mammals are necessarily eaten. Small rodents are common seed predators, but they may disperse a significant proportion of seeds by scatter hoarding them via burial. Size‐dependent predation and dispersal of seeds has not been directly tested within a plant species for tropical rodents. This study tested whether or not large and small nuts of Astrocaryum mexicanum (Palmae) differed in their fates due to handling by the spiny pocket mouse Heteromys desmarestianus (Heteromyidae). Exclosures were used to give small rodents exclusive access to A. mexicanum nuts. H. desmarestianus preferentially consumed large over small A. mexicanum nuts, but cached (in burrows and by scatter hoarding) similar proportions of these nuts by size. Small nuts tended to be buried farther away from exclosures than large nuts. Although sample sizes of buried nuts were small, the rodents retrieved all buried large nuts, but 30% of the small nuts remained buried long enough to germinate. I also examined predispersal predation by insects and found that insects appear to have no size preference for A. mexicanum nuts, but insect predation appears to hinder nut development. Thus, nuts attacked by insects develop to be significantly smaller, with a low proportion of undamaged endosperm, than uninfested nuts. It is hypothesized that the preferential predation of large A. mexicanum nuts by H. desmarestianus is a response by these rodents to insect predation.

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“…A few multispecies studies have shown the predicted negative relationship between seed mass and postdispersal survivorship (e.g., Hulme [1998a] for 19 herbaceous taxa from Europe; Kiviniemi [2001] for 11 species of Rosaceae in Sweden; and Reader [1997] for six old-field species). However, other studies have found no significant relationship (e.g., Moles and Drake [1999] for 11 large-seeded species from New Zealand; Hau [1997] for 16 species from Hong Kong; Kollmann et al [1998] for 12 species from Europe; Holl and Lulow [1997] for 10 species from Costa Rica; and Meiners and Stiles [1997] for nine American species), or even a positive relationship (e.g., Blate et al [1998] for 40 Southeast Asian rain forest species, and Osunkoya [1994] for 12 Australian rain forest species).…”

Section: Seed Mass and Postdispersal Survivorshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Small-Seeded Species Have Higher Survival Through Seed Predation Than Large-Seeded Species?

Moles

Warton

Westoby

2003

Ecology

183

189

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Seed ecologists have often stated that they expect larger‐seeded species to have lower survivorship through postdispersal seed predation than smaller‐seeded species. Similar predictions can be made for the relationship between survivorship through predispersal seed predation and seed mass. In order to test these predictions, we gathered data regarding survivorship through 24 hours of exposure to postdispersal seed predators for 81 Australian species, and survivorship through predispersal seed predation for 170 Australian species. These species came from an arid environment, a subalpine environment, and a temperate coastal environment. We also gathered data from the published literature (global) on survivorship through postdispersal seed predation for 280 species and survivorship through predispersal seed predation for 174 species. We found a weak positive correlation between seed mass and the percentage of seeds remaining after 24 hours of exposure to postdispersal seed predators at two of three field sites in Australia, and no significant relationship across 280 species from the global literature, or at the remaining field site. There was no significant relationship between seed mass and survivorship through predispersal seed predation either cross‐species or across phylogenetic divergences in any of the vegetation types, or in the compilation of data from the literature. Postdispersal seed removal was responsible for a greater percentage of seed loss in our field studies than was predispersal seed predation. On average, 83% of diaspores remained after 24 hours of exposure to postdispersal seed removers, whereas 87% of seeds survived all predispersal seed predation that occurred between seed formation and seed maturity. Mean seed survival was higher in the field studies than in the literature compilations, and species showing 100% survival were heavily underrepresented in the literature. These differences may be due to biases in species selection or publication bias. Seed defensive tissue mass increased isometrically with seed mass, but there was no significant relationship between the amount of defensive tissue per gram of seed reserve mass and survivorship through postdispersal seed predation.

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Selective Predation on the Seeds of Woody Plants

Cited by 23 publications

References 16 publications

Viburnum lantana L. and Viburnum opulus L. (V. lobatum Lam., Opulus vulgaris Borkh.)

Viburnum lantana L. and Viburnum opulus L. (V. lobatum Lam., Opulus vulgaris Borkh.)

Predation and dispersal of large and small seeds of a tropical palm

Do Small-Seeded Species Have Higher Survival Through Seed Predation Than Large-Seeded Species?

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