Fleshy-fruited plants in tropical forests largely rely on vertebrate frugivores to disperse their seeds.Although this plant-animal interaction is typically considered a diffuse mutualism,it is fundamental as it provid...Fleshy-fruited plants in tropical forests largely rely on vertebrate frugivores to disperse their seeds.Although this plant-animal interaction is typically considered a diffuse mutualism,it is fundamental as it provides the template on which tropical forest communities are structured.We applied a mutualistic network approach to investigate the relationship between small-fruited fleshy plant species and the fruit-eating bird community in an intact evergreen forest in north-east Thailand.A minimum of 53 bird species consumed fruits of 136 plant species.Plant-avian frugivore networks were highly asymmetrical,with observed networks filling 30%of all potential links.Whereas some of the missing links in the present study might be due to undersampling,forbidden links can be attributed to size constraints,accessibility and phenological uncoupling,and although the majority of missing links were unknown(58.2%),many were probably due to a given bird species being either rare or only a very occasional fruit eater.The most common frugivores were bulbuls,barbets and fairy-bluebirds,which were responsible for the majority of fruit removal from small fleshy fruited species in our system.Migratory birds seemed to be a minor component of the plant-frugivore networks,accounting for only 3%of feeding visits to fruiting trees;they filled 2%of the overall potential networks.The majority of interactions were generalized unspecific;however,Saurauia roxburghii Wall.appeared to be dependent on flowerpeckers for dispersal,while Thick-billed Pigeons were only seen to eat figs.展开更多
Seed dispersal and subsequent recruitment is the template on which forest regeneration takes place.Hence,considering the scale over which ecological processes occur is key for understanding the overall impact of vario...Seed dispersal and subsequent recruitment is the template on which forest regeneration takes place.Hence,considering the scale over which ecological processes occur is key for understanding the overall impact of various dispersal agents.To explore leafcutter ant(Atta colombica)dispersal effectiveness in space and time,seed movement and subsequent recruitment of a large-seeded predominately vertebrate-dispersed tree,Simarouba amara(Aubl.Simaroubaceae),was investigated on Barro Colorado Island,Panama.At each of 218 reproductive-sized adults(>20 cm diameter at breast height),presence or absence of a leafcutter ant colony was noted,with extensive checks for Atta activity taking place at or in close proximity to seed and seedling transects,which extended 4 cardinal directions for 30 m from each reproductive female tree(n=74).Only at 2 S.amara trees were nests observed,and in these areas a dense S.amara seedling carpet was observed.Although nearby nest and dump sites might increase local S.amara recruitment in the short term,mortality at these sites is complete or nearly so.Hence,the seed dispersal effectiveness by leafcutter ants appears to be ephemeral and likely contributes inconsequentially to the long-term recruitment and distribution patterns of the species.This finding highlights the importance of evaluating disperser effectiveness at ecologically relevant spatiotemporal scales.展开更多
基金This work was supported by a King Mongkut’s Univer-sity of Technology Thonburi Research Grant through the National Research Council Thailand and BRT_346004.
文摘Fleshy-fruited plants in tropical forests largely rely on vertebrate frugivores to disperse their seeds.Although this plant-animal interaction is typically considered a diffuse mutualism,it is fundamental as it provides the template on which tropical forest communities are structured.We applied a mutualistic network approach to investigate the relationship between small-fruited fleshy plant species and the fruit-eating bird community in an intact evergreen forest in north-east Thailand.A minimum of 53 bird species consumed fruits of 136 plant species.Plant-avian frugivore networks were highly asymmetrical,with observed networks filling 30%of all potential links.Whereas some of the missing links in the present study might be due to undersampling,forbidden links can be attributed to size constraints,accessibility and phenological uncoupling,and although the majority of missing links were unknown(58.2%),many were probably due to a given bird species being either rare or only a very occasional fruit eater.The most common frugivores were bulbuls,barbets and fairy-bluebirds,which were responsible for the majority of fruit removal from small fleshy fruited species in our system.Migratory birds seemed to be a minor component of the plant-frugivore networks,accounting for only 3%of feeding visits to fruiting trees;they filled 2%of the overall potential networks.The majority of interactions were generalized unspecific;however,Saurauia roxburghii Wall.appeared to be dependent on flowerpeckers for dispersal,while Thick-billed Pigeons were only seen to eat figs.
文摘Seed dispersal and subsequent recruitment is the template on which forest regeneration takes place.Hence,considering the scale over which ecological processes occur is key for understanding the overall impact of various dispersal agents.To explore leafcutter ant(Atta colombica)dispersal effectiveness in space and time,seed movement and subsequent recruitment of a large-seeded predominately vertebrate-dispersed tree,Simarouba amara(Aubl.Simaroubaceae),was investigated on Barro Colorado Island,Panama.At each of 218 reproductive-sized adults(>20 cm diameter at breast height),presence or absence of a leafcutter ant colony was noted,with extensive checks for Atta activity taking place at or in close proximity to seed and seedling transects,which extended 4 cardinal directions for 30 m from each reproductive female tree(n=74).Only at 2 S.amara trees were nests observed,and in these areas a dense S.amara seedling carpet was observed.Although nearby nest and dump sites might increase local S.amara recruitment in the short term,mortality at these sites is complete or nearly so.Hence,the seed dispersal effectiveness by leafcutter ants appears to be ephemeral and likely contributes inconsequentially to the long-term recruitment and distribution patterns of the species.This finding highlights the importance of evaluating disperser effectiveness at ecologically relevant spatiotemporal scales.
