The Importance of Plant-Bird Mutualisms in the Temperate Rainforest of Southern South America

Armestó, Juan J.; Smith‐Ramírez, Cecilia; Sabag, Carlos

doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-3970-3_12

Cited by 34 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…A larger proportion of the plants in southern temperate forests is dependent on animal species for their pollination and seed dispersal than in North American temperate forests (Willson 1991;. For instance, nearly 20% of the woody species in temperate forests of Chiloe are pollinated by hummingbirds, compared with less than 5% in Pacific Northwest conifer forests (Smith-Ramirez 1993;Armesto et al 1996b). Nearly 70% of the woody species in Chiloe have fleshy fruits compared with less than 30% in temperate deciduous forests of eastern North America (Armesto and Rozzi 1989;Willson 1991).…”

Section: Functional Contrasts Between North and South American Tempermentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Plant-Animal Interactions A major functional difference between northern and southern temperate forests of the Americas is the important role played by plant-animal interactions in the reproductive biology of plants in southern latitude forests (Armesto and Rozzi 1989;Willson 1991;Armesto et al 1996b). Thus, a broader array of pollination and seed dispersal interactions link animal and plant populations in southern temperate forests, making these ecosystems more susceptible to changes in land cover, climate, fragmentation, and loss of species than their North American counterparts.…”

Section: Functional Contrasts Between North and South American Tempermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperate Forests of North and South America

Armestó¹,

Rozzi²,

Caspersen³

2001

Ecological Studies

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Section: Functional Contrasts Between North and South American Tempermentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Functional Contrasts Between North and South American Tempermentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperate Forests of North and South America

Armestó¹,

Rozzi²,

Caspersen³

2001

Ecological Studies

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“…More than 50% of the woody genera occurring in these forests produce fleshy fruits, indicating the importance of endozoochory in this biome (Armesto et al. ; Aizen & Ezcurra ; Aizen et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endozoochory decreases environmental filtering imposed to seedlings

Cavallero

Aizen

Raffaele

2012

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Recruitment microsites are imposed on plants, first by seed dispersal and then by the environment. Different seed dispersal vectors could decrease or increase the environmental filtering imposed on seedlings, depending on their specificity to deliver seeds to suitable microsites for germination and establishment. We addressed the hypothesis that endozoochory reduces the environmental filtering imposed to seedlings to a larger extent than does anemochory. We predicted that seedlings from animal‐dispersed species should show a higher degree of environmental coupling. Location Northern Patagonian Andean region of Argentina, 40–42° S. Methods We characterized the relationship of seedlings, saplings and reproductive individuals to total radiation, air temperature and relative humidity for 16 woody species growing in 25 plant communities of different post‐fire ages in temperate forests of southern South America. Results Seedlings and saplings of endozoochorous species occurred under more similar environmental conditions than seedlings and saplings of anemochorous species. Basically, the mean difference in plant–environment correlation coefficients between saplings and seedlings was <0.2 for all endozoochorous species and >0.2 for all anemochorous species for all environmental variables. Comparisons between dispersal modes were also statistically significant before and after controlling for phylogenetic relationships among species. Even though saplings and seedlings of endozochorous species tended to occur under similar environmental conditions, we did not find evidence that saplings and seedlings co‐occur in the same physical microsites. Finally, we did not find evidence either that seedlings of endozoochorous species tended to occur differentially underneath reproductive individuals of the same species (i.e. more seeds falling by gravity beneath maternal plants). Conclusions The tighter coupling between seedlings of endozoochorous species and environmental factors persisting to the sapling stage suggests that relying on animals for seed dispersal reduces mortality costs during the early stages of recruitment by reducing the environmental filtering imposed on seedlings.

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“…South American temperate forests (SATF) contain a large number of hummingbird-pollinated plant species with flowers that are usually referred to as ornithophyllous red flowers (Armesto et al, 1996;Aizen et al, 2002). Many of these flowers besides being visited by birds are also visited by hymenopterans and especially by the only native bumblebee in SATF, Bombus dahlbomii (SmithRamirez, 1993;Smith-Ramirez et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can red flowers be conspicuous to bees?Bombus dahlbomiiand South American temperate forest flowers as a case in point

Martínez-Harms

Palacios

Márquez

et al. 2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYIt has been argued that trichromatic bees with photoreceptor spectral sensitivity peaks in the ultraviolet (UV), blue and green areas of the spectrum are blind to long wavelengths (red to humans). South American temperate forests (SATF) contain a large number of human red-looking flowers that are reported to be visited by the bumblebee Bombus dahlbomii. In the present study, B. dahlbomii's spectral sensitivity was measured through electroretinogram (ERG) recordings. No extended sensitivity to long wavelengths was found in B. dahlbomii. The spectral reflectance curves from eight plant species with red flowers were measured. The color loci occupied by these flowers in the bee color space was evaluated using the receptor noise-limited model. Four of the plant species have pure red flowers with low levels of chromatic contrast but high levels of negative L-receptor contrast. Finally, training experiments were performed in order to assess the role of achromatic cues in the detection and discrimination of red targets by B. dahlbomii. The results of the training experiments suggest that the bumblebee relies on achromatic contrast provided by the L-receptor to detect and discriminate red targets. These findings are discussed in the context of the evolutionary background under which the relationship between SATF species and their flower visitors may have evolved.

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The Importance of Plant-Bird Mutualisms in the Temperate Rainforest of Southern South America

Cited by 34 publications

References 32 publications

Temperate Forests of North and South America

Temperate Forests of North and South America

Endozoochory decreases environmental filtering imposed to seedlings

Can red flowers be conspicuous to bees?Bombus dahlbomiiand South American temperate forest flowers as a case in point

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