Although food availability and the abundance of seed predators have been postulated to affect seed dispersal,it is not clear how seed-eating animals modify their scatter-hoarding strategies in response to different le...Although food availability and the abundance of seed predators have been postulated to affect seed dispersal,it is not clear how seed-eating animals modify their scatter-hoarding strategies in response to different levels of interspecific competition.We placed paired germinated and ungerminated acorns of Quercus mongolica on 30-cm high platforms to exclude potential interspecific competition of the predominant larder hoarders Apodemus peninsulae and Myodes rufocanus,to investigate seed dispersal by a predominant scatter-hoarder,Tamias sibiricus,in the field in north-eastern China.Our results showed that T.sibiricus ate more acorns in situ in the absence of interspecific competition.In the presence of interspecific competition of A.peninsulae and C.rufocanus,however,more acorns were scatter-hoarded by T.sibiricus.Regardless of interspecific competition,germination of acorns showed no significant effects on seed dispersal patterns,inconsistent with the“seed perishability hypothesis”that animals avoid hoarding seeds with high perishability.Exclusion of interspecific competition,though relatively increasing the per capita seed abundance,appears to reduce seed dispersal,scatter-hoarding and seedling establishment.Therefore,we propose that moderate interspecific competition rather than competition exclusion may benefit seed scatter-hoarding and seedling establishment.展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31760156)the Young Talents Invitation Program of Shandong Provincial Colleges and Universities.
文摘Although food availability and the abundance of seed predators have been postulated to affect seed dispersal,it is not clear how seed-eating animals modify their scatter-hoarding strategies in response to different levels of interspecific competition.We placed paired germinated and ungerminated acorns of Quercus mongolica on 30-cm high platforms to exclude potential interspecific competition of the predominant larder hoarders Apodemus peninsulae and Myodes rufocanus,to investigate seed dispersal by a predominant scatter-hoarder,Tamias sibiricus,in the field in north-eastern China.Our results showed that T.sibiricus ate more acorns in situ in the absence of interspecific competition.In the presence of interspecific competition of A.peninsulae and C.rufocanus,however,more acorns were scatter-hoarded by T.sibiricus.Regardless of interspecific competition,germination of acorns showed no significant effects on seed dispersal patterns,inconsistent with the“seed perishability hypothesis”that animals avoid hoarding seeds with high perishability.Exclusion of interspecific competition,though relatively increasing the per capita seed abundance,appears to reduce seed dispersal,scatter-hoarding and seedling establishment.Therefore,we propose that moderate interspecific competition rather than competition exclusion may benefit seed scatter-hoarding and seedling establishment.
