In this exposé we provide the first review of host use by brood parasitic cuckoos in a multiple-cuckoo system in China, based on our own long-term field data and a compilation of observations obtained from the li...In this exposé we provide the first review of host use by brood parasitic cuckoos in a multiple-cuckoo system in China, based on our own long-term field data and a compilation of observations obtained from the literature. In total, we found that 11 species of cuckoos utilized altogether 55 host species. These hosts belong to 15 families, in which Sylviidae, Turdidae and Timaliidae account for 22.6%, 20.8% and 17.0% of parasitism records, respectively. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) had the widest range of host species, accounting for 45.5% of the total number of parasitized species (25 in 10 families) of all parasitism records and is the most frequent brood parasite in the country. Cuckoo species differed in their egg coloration and the extent of egg polymorphism with most of them, e.g. the Common Cuckoo, the Lesser Cuckoo (C. poliocephalus) and the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) laying well mimetic eggs with respect to their hosts based on human being’s visual observations, while others such as the Large Hawk-cuckoo (C. sparverioides), the Himalayan Cuckoo (C. saturatus) and the Asian Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx maculatus) usually laid non-mimetic eggs. The use of cuckoo hosts and egg color variation in China are compared with those in other parts of their ranges in Asia.展开更多
Host-mediated effects on hemiparasitic mistletoes were hypothesized to contribute to mistletoes reproductive phenological asynchrony,thus providing a longer period of food supply to its mutualistic pollinators and dis...Host-mediated effects on hemiparasitic mistletoes were hypothesized to contribute to mistletoes reproductive phenological asynchrony,thus providing a longer period of food supply to its mutualistic pollinators and dispersers.However,studies with empirical data interrogating this hypothesis are lacking.Weekly monitoring of flowering and fruiting patterns on a generalist mistletoe Dendrophthoe pentandra(Loranthaceae)was conducted for two consecutive years in tropical Xishuangbanna,Southwest China.We examined whether flowering and fruiting patterns were seasonal,quantified the degree of stagger within D.pentandra populations and determined the factors influencing the first flowering date(FFD)of D.pentandra.Furthermore,the effect of change in the number of host species on reproductive phenological asynchrony of mistletoe was examined.We found that(i)both flowering and fruiting exhibited unimodal peaks in the two consecutive years of the study;(ii)the FFD was significantly influenced by crown area of mistletoe and light,such that clump with larger crown and more light exposure had an earlier FFD and longer flowering and fruiting durations;(iii)different host species had a significant impact on the phenology of mistletoes.However,contrary to our hypothesis,the number of host species did not significantly change the asynchrony of reproductive phenology of mistletoe.Therefore,these results suggest that alternative hypotheses are needed to interpret the ecological significance of the number of host species and phenological asynchrony of generalist mistletoes.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31071938, 31101646)Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (No. 212136)+1 种基金the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (20110490967)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10-0111)
文摘In this exposé we provide the first review of host use by brood parasitic cuckoos in a multiple-cuckoo system in China, based on our own long-term field data and a compilation of observations obtained from the literature. In total, we found that 11 species of cuckoos utilized altogether 55 host species. These hosts belong to 15 families, in which Sylviidae, Turdidae and Timaliidae account for 22.6%, 20.8% and 17.0% of parasitism records, respectively. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) had the widest range of host species, accounting for 45.5% of the total number of parasitized species (25 in 10 families) of all parasitism records and is the most frequent brood parasite in the country. Cuckoo species differed in their egg coloration and the extent of egg polymorphism with most of them, e.g. the Common Cuckoo, the Lesser Cuckoo (C. poliocephalus) and the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) laying well mimetic eggs with respect to their hosts based on human being’s visual observations, while others such as the Large Hawk-cuckoo (C. sparverioides), the Himalayan Cuckoo (C. saturatus) and the Asian Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx maculatus) usually laid non-mimetic eggs. The use of cuckoo hosts and egg color variation in China are compared with those in other parts of their ranges in Asia.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31670393)to L.Z.
文摘Host-mediated effects on hemiparasitic mistletoes were hypothesized to contribute to mistletoes reproductive phenological asynchrony,thus providing a longer period of food supply to its mutualistic pollinators and dispersers.However,studies with empirical data interrogating this hypothesis are lacking.Weekly monitoring of flowering and fruiting patterns on a generalist mistletoe Dendrophthoe pentandra(Loranthaceae)was conducted for two consecutive years in tropical Xishuangbanna,Southwest China.We examined whether flowering and fruiting patterns were seasonal,quantified the degree of stagger within D.pentandra populations and determined the factors influencing the first flowering date(FFD)of D.pentandra.Furthermore,the effect of change in the number of host species on reproductive phenological asynchrony of mistletoe was examined.We found that(i)both flowering and fruiting exhibited unimodal peaks in the two consecutive years of the study;(ii)the FFD was significantly influenced by crown area of mistletoe and light,such that clump with larger crown and more light exposure had an earlier FFD and longer flowering and fruiting durations;(iii)different host species had a significant impact on the phenology of mistletoes.However,contrary to our hypothesis,the number of host species did not significantly change the asynchrony of reproductive phenology of mistletoe.Therefore,these results suggest that alternative hypotheses are needed to interpret the ecological significance of the number of host species and phenological asynchrony of generalist mistletoes.
