Horizontal seed dispersal by dung beetles reduced seed and seedling clumping, but did not increase short-term seedling establishment
| Autor: | Rosamond Coates, Francisco Mora Ardila, Lina Adonay Urrea-Galeano, Gabriel Ramos-Fernández, Alfonso Díaz Rojas, Ellen Andresen |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Computer and Information Sciences Time Factors Arthropoda 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Science Seed dispersal Context (language use) Plant Science Biology Plant Reproduction Spatial distribution 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Beetles Seed Dispersal Seed Germination Animals Probability Data Management 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Dung beetle Mammals Metadata Multidisciplinary Dung Beetles Plant Anatomy Organisms Biology and Life Sciences Eukaryota Plants biology.organism_classification Invertebrates Coleoptera Insects Agronomy Seedlings Seedling Germination Plant Physiology Seeds Vertebrates Amniotes Medicine Biological dispersal Research Article Tropical rainforest |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 10, p e0224366 (2019) PLoS ONE |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Popis: | Dung beetles are secondary seed dispersers, incidentally moving many of the seeds defecated by mammals vertically (seed burial) and/or horizontally as they process and relocate dung. Although several studies have quantified this ecological function of dung beetles, very few have followed seed fate until seedling establishment, and most of these have focused on the effects of seed burial. We know very little about the effects of horizontal seed movement by dung beetles, though it is generally assumed that it will affect plant recruitment positively through diminishing seed clumping. The objective of our study was to assess the effects of dung beetle activity on the spatial distribution of seeds and seedlings, and on the probability of seedling establishment. In a tropical rainforest in Mexico we carried out two complementary field experiments for each of two tree species (Bursera simaruba and Poulsenia armata), using seeds experimentally imbedded in pig dung and recording their fate and spatial location over time. For both species, dung beetle activity reduced the spatial clumping of seeds and seedlings; however, it did not increase the probability of seedling establishment. We discuss the context- and species-specificity of the combined effects of horizontal and vertical dispersal of seeds by dung beetles, and the need to quantify long-term seedling fates to more accurately determine the effects of seed movement by dung beetles on plant recruitment. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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