Cherry removal by seed-dispersing mammals: matualism through commensal association with frugivorous birds

• Autorzy: Hernandez A
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

The consumption of Wild Cherries Prunus avium (L.) by frugivorous birds and mammals was studied in an area in northwest Spain in summer during July–August 2005, analysing in particular how the fruits were obtained by terrestrial seed-dispersing mammals. During the study cherries were practically the only ripe fleshy fruits available in the area. They were consumed by a variety of birds (16 species), with a very high mean rate of feeding visits (136 birds per hour for 10 trees, n = 4091 feeding visits). Most of these visits were by a priori seed-dispersing birds that usually swallow the fruits whole, in particular the Spotless Starling Sturnus unicolor Temminck, Blackbird Turdus merula L., Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla (L.), and Garden Warbler Sylvia borin (Boddaert). However, the large sizes of the cherries (10–17 mm) and the fact that they were often removed with the stalk attached hindered this to a great extent, especially in birds with small gape width (Sylvia warblers, with gape width <10 mm, accounted for 32% of the total feeding visits). Failure in handling the cherries and their falling to the ground was therefore common, as it was the alternative strategy of pecking the pulp without ingesting the large cherry seed. Most of the fallen cherries had been handled by birds (89% of 1241 cherries collected beneath eight trees), and 52% of the handled cherries still had the stalk attached. The cherries were frequently consumed by seed-dispersing mammals (1133 cherry seeds in 51 droppings of hedgehogs, mustelids and canids). More than 99% of the cherry seeds in mammal droppings were intact (potentially viable for germination). Considering their shoulder-heights (40 cm at the maximum) and the characteristics of the cherry trees (1.92 m mean distance from the ground to the lowest branch, n = 77 trees), seed-dispersing mammals were unlikely to have reached the branches directly from the ground without climbing. The non-climbing species (European Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus (L.), Eurasian Badger Meles meles (L.), Red Fox Vulpes vulpes (L.) must have obtained all the fruits after they had fallen, and as a whole these species were precisely the main cherry dispersers among the mammals (94% of the total cherry seeds in mammal droppings). Western Polecats Mustela putorius (L.) and Beech Martens Martes foina (Erxleben) consumed cherries and could climb the trees to eat the fruit, and Stoats Mustela erminea (L.) did not consume cherries. Two conclusions in this study are relevant within the European context: 1) not all oversized fruits that often fall to the ground due to the action of seed-dispersing frugivorous birds are wasted, in terms of potential dispersal, and 2) non-climbing terrestrial seed-dispersing mammals can feed on the fruits that have fallen from shrubs and trees not necessarily after post-ripening natural abscission.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Prunus avium; Spain; commensalism; mammal; frugivorous bird; bird cherry tree

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Polish Journal of Ecology
• Rocznik: 2008
• Tom: 56
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.127-138,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Hernandez A

• University of Valladolid, Avenida de Madrid 44, 34004 Palencia, Spain

Bibliografia

• Alcantara J.M., Rey P.J. 2003 – Conflicting selection pressures on seed size: evolutionary ecology of fruit size in a bird-dispersed tree, Olea europaea – J. Evol. Biol. 16: 1168–1176.
• Bascompte J., Jordano P., Olesen J.M. 2006 – Asymmetric coevolutionary networks facilitate biodiversity maintenance – Science, 312: 431–433.
• Bermejo T., Guitian J. 1996 – Consumo de frutos y dispersion de semillas de serbal Sorbus aucuparia por zorros y martas en la Cordillera Cantabrica occidental – Donana Acta Vert. 23: 215–227.
• Bustamante R.O., Simonetti J.A., Mella J.E. 1992 – Are foxes legitimate and efficient seed dispersers? A field test – Acta Oecol. 13: 203–208.
• Castells A., Mayo M. 1993 – Guia de los mamiferos en libertad de Espana y Portugal – Piramide, Madrid, 470 pp.
• Clevenger A.P. 1996 – Frugivory of Martes martes and Genetta genetta in an insular Mediterranean habitat – Rev. Ecol. (Terre Vie) 51: 19–28.
• Cramp S., Ed. 1985 – The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. IV – OUP, Oxford, 960 pp.
• Cramp S., Ed. 1988 – The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. V – OUP, Oxford, 1063 pp.
• Cramp S., Ed. 1992 – The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. VI – OUP, Oxford, 728 pp.
• Cramp S., Perrins C.M., Eds. 1993 – The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. VII – OUP, Oxford, 577 pp.
• Cramp S., Perrins C.M., Eds. 1994 – The birds of the western Palearctic, vol. VIII – OUP, Oxford, 899 pp.
• De Marinis A.M. 2005 – Los tejones en Italia: distribucion, habitos alimenticios y conservacion (In: Ecologia y conservacion del tejon en ecosistemas mediterraneos, Eds. E. Virgos, E. Revilla, J.G. Mangas, X. Domingo-Roura) – SECEM, Malaga, pp. 251–270.
• Debussche M., Isenmann P. 1989 – Fleshy fruit characters and the choices of bird and mammal seed dispersers in a Mediterranean region – Oikos, 56: 327–338.
• Fenner M., Ed. 2000 – Seeds: the ecology of regeneration in plant communities, 2nd ed. – CAB International, Wallingford, 410 pp.
• Forget P.M., Lambert J.E., Hulme P.E., Vander Wall S.B., Eds. 2005 – Seed fate.Predation, dispersal and seedling establishment – CAB International, Wallingford, 410 pp.
• Fowler J., Cohen L., Jarvis P. 1998 – Practical statistics for field biology, 2nd ed. – Wiley, Chichester, 259 pp.
• Fuentes M. 1999 – Observaciones de pajaros alimentandose de cerezas en el Bierzo occidental – Chioglossa, 1: 117–119.
• Fuentes M., Guitian J., Guitian P., Bermejo T., Larrinaga A., Amezquita P., Bongiorno S. 2001 – Small-scale spatial variation in the interactions between Prunus mahaleb and fruit-eating birds – Plant Ecol. 157: 69–75.
• Guitian J. 1987 – Hedera helix y los pajaros dispersantes de sus semillas: tiempo de estancia en la planta y eficiencia de movilizacion – Ardeola, 34: 25–35.
• Harris S. 1986 – Urban foxes – Whittet Books, London, 128 pp.
• Hernandez A. 1990 – Observaciones sobre el papel del lagarto ocelado Lacerta lepida, el erizo Erinaceus europaeus y el tejon Meles meles en la dispersion de semillas – Donana Acta Vert. 17: 235–242.
• Hernandez A. 1993 – The role of birds and mammals in the dispersal ecology of Rhamnus alpinus in the Cantabrian mountains – Folia Zool. 42: 105–109.
• Hernandez A. 2000 – Comensalismo entre pinzones vulgares Fringilla coelebs y estorninos negros Sturnus unicolor en el consumo de moras Morus nigra – Ardeola, 47: 89–92.
• Hernandez A. 2001 – Are wayfaring tree Viburnum lantana fruits adapted for consumption by seed-disperser mammals? – Mammalia, 65: 521–524.
• Hernandez A. 2003 – Variations in spindle Euonymus europaeus consumption by frugivorous birds during the fruiting season – Ardeola, 50: 171–180.
• Hernandez A. 2005 – Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla and blackbirds Turdus merula feeding their nestlings and fledglings on fleshy fruit – Folia Zool. 54: 379–388.
• Hernandez A. 2006 – Consumo de frutos de hiedra Hedera helix por erizos europeos Erinaceus europaeus – Galemys, 18: 19–22.
• Hernandez A., Alegre J., Salgado J.M. 1990 – Regimen alimentario del erizo Erinaceus europaeus durante verano y otono en setos de la provincia de Leon (noroeste de Espana) – Donana Acta Vert. 17: 173–182.
• Herrera C.M. 1984 – Adaptation to frugivory of Mediterranean avian seed dispersers – Ecology, 65: 609–617.
• Herrera C.M. 1989 – Frugivory and seed dispersal by carnivorous mammals, and associated fruit characteristics, in undisturbed Mediterranean habitats – Oikos, 55: 250–262.
• Herrera C.M. 2002 – Seed dispersal by vertebrates (In: Plant-animal interactions. An evolutionary approach, Eds. C.M. Herrera, O. Pellmyr) – Blackwell Science, Oxford, pp. 185–208.
• Herrera C.M. 2004 – Ecologia de los pajaros frugivoros ibericos (In: La ornitologia hoy, Ed. J.L. Telleria) – Editorial Complutense, Madrid, pp. 127–153.
• Herrera C.M., Pellmyr O., Eds. 2002 – Plant-animal interactions. An evolutionary approach – Blackwell Science, Oxford, 313 pp.
• Jordano P. 1987 – Frugivory, external morphology and digestive system in Mediterranean sylviid warblers Sylvia spp. – Ibis, 129: 175–189.
• Jordano P. 1995 – Angiosperm fleshy fruits and seed dispersers: a comparative analysis of adaptation and constraints in plant-animal interactions – Am. Nat. 145: 163–191.
• Jordano P. 2000 – Fruits and frugivory (In: Seeds: the ecology of regeneration in plant communities, 2nd ed., Ed. M. Fenner) – CAB International, Wallingford, pp. 125–165.
• Jordano P., Garcia C., Godoy J.A., Garcia-Castano J.L. 2007 – Differential contribution of frugivores to complex seed dispersal patterns – Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 3278–3282.
• King C. 1989 – The natural history of weasels and stoats – Helm, London, 253 pp.
• Kruuk H. 1989 – The social badger – OUP, Oxford, 155 pp.
• Levey D.J., Silva W.R., Galetti M., Eds. 2002 – Seed dispersal and frugivory: ecology, evolution and conservation – CAB International, Wallingford, 511 pp.
• LoGiudice K., Ostfeld R.S. 2002 – Interactions between mammals and trees: predation on mammal-dispersed seeds and the effect of ambient food – Oecologia, 130: 420–425.
• Macdonald D., Barrett P. 1993 – Mammals of Britain and Europe – Collins, London, 312 pp.
• Manzur M.I., Courtney S.P. 1984 – Influence of insect damage in fruits of hawthorn on bird foraging and seed dispersal – Oikos, 43: 265–270.
• McDonald R., Harris S. 1998 – Stoats and weasels – The Mammal Society, London, 32 pp.
• Motta-Junior J.C., Martins K. 2002 –The frugivorous diet of the maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus in Brazil: ecology and conservation (In: Seed dispersal and frugivory: ecology, evolution and conservation, Eds. D.J. Levey, W.R. Silva, M. Galetti) – CAB International, Wallingford, pp. 291–303.
• Obesso J.R., Fernandez-Calvo I.C. 2002 – Fruit removal, pyrene dispersial predation and seedling establishment of a bird-dispensed tree – Plant Ecol. 165: 223–233.
• Otani T. 2002 – Seed dispersal by Japanese marten Martes melampus in the subalpine shrubland of northern Japan – Ecol. Res. 17: 29–38.
• Purroy F.J., Varela J.M. 2005 – Guia de los mamiferos de Espana, 2nd ed. – Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, 165 pp.
• Rey P.J., Gutierrez J.E. 1996 – Pecking of olives by frugivorous birds: a shift in feeding behaviour to overcome gape limitation – J. Avian Biol. 27: 327–333.
• Rey P.J., Gutierrez J.E., Alcantara J., Valera F. 1997 – Fruit size in wild olives: implications for avian seed dispersal – Funct. Ecol. 11: 611–618.
• Sallabanks R. 1993 – Hierarchical mechanisms of fruit selection by an avian frugivore – Ecology, 74: 1326–1336.
• Santos T., Telleria J.L., Virgos E. 1999 – Dispersal of Spanish juniper Juniperus thurifera by birds and mammals in a fragmented landscape – Ecography, 22: 193–204.
• Schilling D.D., Singer D., Diller H. 1987 – Guia de los mamiferos de Europa – Omega, Barcelona, 294 pp.
• Snow B., Snow D. 1988 – Birds and berries. A study of an ecological interaction – Poyser, Calton, 268 pp.
• Sokal R.R., Rohlf F.J. 1995 – Biometry, 3rd ed. – Freeman, New York, 887 pp.
• Traveset A., Willson M.F. 1997 – Effect of birds and bears on seed germination of fleshy-fruited plants in temperate rainforests of southern Alaska – Oikos, 80: 89–95.
• Welch C.A., Keay J., Kendall K.C., Robbins C.T. 1997 – Constraints on frugivory by bears – Ecology, 78: 1105–1119.
• Wheelwright N.T. 1985 – Fruit size, gape width, and the diets of fruit-eating birds – Ecology, 66: 808–818.
• Willson M.F. 1993 – Mammals as seed-dispersal mutualists in North America – Oikos, 67: 159–176.