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126 results for “seed predation.”
Data from: The ecology and evolution of seed predation by Darwin's finches on Tribulus cistoides on the Galápagos Islands
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Data from: Seed size predicts global effects of small mammal seed predation on plant recruitment
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A non-native earthworm shifts the seed predation dynamics of a native weed
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Flowering, seed production, predation and recruitment of Posidonia australis
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Data from: Induced phenological avoidance: a neglected defense mechanism against seed predation in plants
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Pre-dispersal seed predation obscures the detrimental effect of dust on wildflower reproduction - fruit data
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Pre-dispersal seed predation obscures the detrimental effect of dust on wildflower reproduction - flowering and egg phenology
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Data from: Selection of floral traits by pollinators and seed predators during sequential life history stages
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Impacts of rodent eradication on seed predation and plant community biomass on a tropical atoll
<p>Invasive rodent eradications are frequently undertaken to curb island biodiversity loss. However, the breadth of rodents' ecological impact, even after eradication, is not always fully recognized. For example, the most widespread invasive rodent, the black rat (<i>Rattus rattus</i>),<i> </i>while omnivorous,<i> </i>eats predominantly seeds and fruit. Yet, the effects of seed predation release after eradication on plant communities and ecological functions are not well understood, posing a gap for island restoration. We examined the role of seed predation release following black rat eradication in changes to tree composition and above-ground biomass across an islet network (Palmyra Atoll) in the Central Pacific. We conducted repeated surveys of seed, juvenile, and adult tree biomass and survival in permanent vegetation plots before and after the eradication of rats. We observed a 95% reduction in seed predation for an introduced, previously cultivated tree population (<i>Cocos nucifera</i>). Juvenile tree biomass of all species increased 14-fold, with <i>C. nucifera </i>increasing the most, suggesting that eradication increased this tree's competitive advantage. Indeed, based on stage-structured demographic models, rat eradication led to a 10% increase in <i>C. nucifera </i>population growth rate. The effect of invasive rodent seed predation varies considerably among the plant species in a community and can shift competitive dynamics, sometimes in favor of invasive plants. These bottom-up effects should be considered in evaluating the costs and benefits of eradication. Documenting the variation in invasive rodent diet items, along with long-term surveys, can help prioritize island eradications where restoration is most likely to be successful. </p>
Data from: Changes in seed predation along a 2300-m elevational gradient on a tropical mountain in Myanmar: a standardized test with 32 non-native plant species
<p>It has been hypothesized that biotic interactions are stronger towards lower latitudes and elevations. However, results vary among interaction systems and experimental protocols. Our goal was to examine the validity of this prediction by using a standardized method to investigate seed–animal interaction. We assessed removal by animals for 40960 seeds belonging to 32 non-native tree species along an elevation gradient from 600 m to 2910 m on Mount Victoria (Nat Ma Taung), western Myanmar. We analyzed the elevational trends of seed removal at both individual seed level (probability of depot encounter, proportion of seeds removed after encounter and total proportion of seeds removed) and community level (Shannon diversity and species evenness indices). The dry and wet seasons had opposite relationships between seed removal and elevation,<br> i.e. hump-shaped in the dry season and U-shaped in the wet season. Individual plant species displayed almost all possible patterns: U-shaped and hump-shaped, monotonic decrease and increase, and elevation-independent patterns. As a consequence of the hump-shaped seed removal pattern with elevation in the dry season, the diversity and evenness of surviving seeds showed U-shaped patterns. Our study shows that elevational trends in seed–animal interactions do not follow a constant rule, but differ between seasons and among species, suggesting that a one-off survey with few species might give misleading information on overall macroecological patterns. Future studies of trends in biotic interactions along gradients should bear this in mind.</p>
Data from: When condition trumps location: seed consumption by fruit-eating birds removes pathogens and predator attractants
Seed ingestion by frugivorous vertebrates commonly benefits plants by moving seeds to locations with fewer predators and pathogens than under the parent. For plants with high local population densities, however, movement from the parent plant is unlikely to result in 'escape' from predators and pathogens. Changes to seed condition caused by gut passage may also provide benefits, yet are rarely evaluated as an alternative. Here, we use a common bird-dispersed chilli pepper (Capsicum chacoense) to conduct the first experimental comparison of escape-related benefits to condition-related benefits of animal-mediated seed dispersal. Within chilli populations, seeds dispersed far from parent plants gained no advantage from escape alone, but seed consumption by birds increased seed survival by 370% – regardless of dispersal distance – due to removal during gut passage of fungal pathogens and chemical attractants to granivores. These results call into question the pre-eminence of escape as the primary advantage of dispersal within populations and document two overlooked mechanisms by which frugivores can benefit fruiting plants.
Data from: Early plant development depends on embryo damage location: the role of seed size in partial seed predation
<p>Data on 1) Observed weevil-infested acorns in the field; 2) Germination rates and times, and seedling emergence of control and embryo-damaged acorns; 3) Seedling performance and physiology of seedlings</p>
Data from: Consistency and variation in phenotypic selection exerted by a community of seed predators
Phenotypic selection that is sustained over time underlies both anagenesis and cladogenesis, but the conditions that lead to such selection and what causes variation in selection are not well known. We measured the selection exerted by three species of predispersal seed predators of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta latifolia) in the South Hills, Idaho and found that net selection on different cone and seed traits exerted by red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) and cone borer moths (Eucosma recissoriana) over 10 years of seed crops was similar to that measured in another mountain range. We also found that the strength of selection increased as seed predation increased, which provides a mechanism for the correlation between the escalation of seed defenses and the density of seed predators. Red crossbills consume the most seeds and selection they exert accounts for much of the selection experienced by lodgepole pine, providing additional support for a coevolutionary arms race between crossbills and lodgepole pine in the South Hills. The third seed predator, hairy woodpeckers (Picoides villosus), consumed less than one-sixth as many seeds as crossbills. Across the northern Rocky Mountains, woodpecker abundance and therefore selective impact appears limited by the elevated seed defenses of lodgepole pine.
Data from: Seed traits, not density or distance from parent, determine seed predation and establishment in an Afrotropical forest
Seed predators drive patterns in seed mortality and seedling establishment and are posited to contribute to the maintenance of plant species diversity through several mechanisms. Negative density dependence and spatially-restricted recruitment are apparently widespread in Neotropical forests, but are little studied in Afrotropical forests, where generalist vertebrates may contribute more to seed mortality than do specialized invertebrates and fungi. We experimentally assessed the roles of seed density and distance from the parent tree for ten tree species in a forest in northeastern Gabon, using exclosures to isolate the effects of different seed predator types. Vertebrates caused greater seed losses than all other mortality agents combined. Unexpectedly, seeds under fruiting conspecific trees had significantly lower removal and higher seedling establishment than those under heterospecific trees or in neutral non-fruiting locations. Seed density did not significantly affect seedling establishment. Vertebrate seed removal ranged from 0% to 100% among focal species, and was positively correlated with seed mass but had no relationship with species commonness (adult tree density). Seed traits strongly affected patterns of seed removal and seedling establishment, and may contribute more to the likelihood of success for an individual seed than do its density or distance from parent. Our results highlight an apparent divergence in patterns of seed mortality and seedling establishment between tropical forest regions, and emphasize the need for further comparative study.
Data from: Seed predation has the potential to drive a rare plant to extinction
1. Pre-dispersal seed predation is sometimes considered unlikely to dramatically affect plant population growth because plants are generally expected to produce more seeds than there are safe sites for germination. Lupinus constancei is a rare herb of limited distribution, with fewer than 400 reproductive individuals restricted to a single square kilometre of north-western California, USA. In addition to the vulnerability resulting from its extremely small population size, L. constancei faces heavy seed predation by small mammals. 2. As a stop-gap measure to prevent population decline, managers began covering a large number of the reproductive plants with herbivory exclosures in 2003, but the population-level effects of seed predation and the effectiveness of this caging treatment were unknown. We used ten years of demographic data to compare the population dynamics of plants inside herbivory exclosures with those sustaining ambient rodent seed predation. 3. We found that the stochastic population growth rate would be robust without seed predation (λs = 1.17), but without continued human intervention (i.e. use of exclosures), the current rate of predation would result in a decline towards extinction (λs = 0.92). 4. After our study concluded, high mortality due to two extreme winter droughts followed by a wildland fire reduced the number of reproductive plants to ~103, making extinction of L. constancei more likely. 5. Synthesis and applications. The prevalence of consumer-driven population decline is largely unknown, but this study demonstrates that pre-dispersal seed predation by rodents can have powerful population-level effects, and represents one set of conditions under which consumer pressure has the potential to drive plant extinction. However, with continued management to limit the effects of seed predation in the short-term and investigation into the ultimate drivers of this high seed predation rate in the long-term, the Lassics lupine population could be restored to a robust rate of growth.
Data from: Genetic factors affecting food-plant specialization of an oligophagous seed predator
Several ecological and genetic factors affect the diet specialization of insect herbivores. The evolution of specialization may be constrained by lack of genetic variation in herbivore performance on different food plant species. By traditional view, trade-offs, i.e., negative genetic correlations between the performance of the herbivores on different food-plant species favour the evolution of specialization. To investigate whether there is genetic variation or trade-offs in herbivore performance between different food plants that may influence specialization of the oligophagous seed-eating herbivore, Lygaeus equestris (Heteroptera), we conducted a feeding trial in laboratory using four food-plant species. Although L. equestris is specialized on Vincetoxicum hirundinaria (Apocynaceae) to some degree, it occasionally feeds on alternative food-plant species. We did not find significant negative genetic correlations between mortality, developmental time, and adult biomass of L. equestris on the different food-plant species. We found genetic variation in mortality and developmental time of L. equestris on some of the food plants, but not in adult biomass. Our results suggest that trade-offs do not affect adaptation and specialization of L. equestris to current and novel food-plant species, but the lack of genetic variation may restrict food-plant utilization. Since food-plant specialization of herbivores may have wide-ranging effects for instance on coevolving plant-herbivore interactions and speciation, it is essential to thoroughly understand the factors behind the specialization process. Our findings provide valuable information about the role of genetic factors in food-plant specialization of this oligophagous herbivore.
Data from: Scatterhoarders drive long- and short-term population dynamics of a nut-producing tree, while pre-dispersal seed predators and herbivores have little effect
1.Both seed predators and herbivores can have profound effects on individual plant growth, reproduction and survival, but their population level effects are less well understood. While most plants interact with a suite of seed predators and herbivores over their life cycle, few studies incorporate the effects of multiple interacting partners and multiple life stages on plant population growth. 2.We constructed a matrix model using six years of data from a rare, seed-producing population of American chestnut (Castanea dentata). We combined field demographic data with published experimental results on the effects of pre-dispersal seed predators (weevils) and post-dispersal seed predators (scatter-hoarding vertebrates) and incorporated the effect of vertebrate herbivores estimated from the field data. We explored the impact of these three different animal interactions for short-term (transient) and long-term (asymptotic) tree population growth. In addition, we used the model to explore the conditions under which scatter-hoarding would function as a mutualism. 3.Seed predators had greater effect on both short- and long-term population growth than herbivores. Although weevil infestation can greatly reduce the probability of germination, pre-dispersal seed predators had smaller effects on both short- or long-term population growth than post-dispersal predators. The elasticities of weevil-related parameters were also small. The effect of browsers on both the short- and long-term population growth rate were the smallest of the effects studied. Post-dispersal seed predation affected population growth the most of the interactions studied. The probability of seed removal was amongst the largest elasticities, similar in magnitude to survival of large trees. 4.Synthesis Our results indicate that neither weevils nor the intensity of browse damage observed at our study site are likely to hinder tree regeneration or reintroduction, though both reduced population growth. Although researchers and forest managers often assume that seeds are unimportant for long-lived tree populations, our test of this assumption shows that scatterhoarders and other post-dispersal seed consumers can significantly limit natural regeneration. Forest management that alters scatterhoarder behaviour could have significant effects on tree population dynamics that are largely unexplored.
Data from: Pre-dispersal seed predators and fungi differ in their effect on Luehea seemannii capsule development, seed germination and dormancy across two Panamanian forests
Pre-dispersal seed predation can greatly reduce crop size affecting recruitment success. Additionally, non-fatal damage by seed predators may allow infection by fungi responsible for post-dispersal seed losses. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify pre-dispersal seed predation and fungal infection in a Neotropical tree species, Luehea seemannii, that produces dehiscent fruits and wind-dispersed seeds, and (2) to link pre-dispersal effects on seed quality to seed survival in the soil. To examine how seed predators and fungi influence seed losses, mesh exclosures, fungicide and the combination of both treatments were applied to separate branches in the canopy of trees in Gamboa and Parque Natural Metropolitano (PNM), Panama. To determine if treatments affect seed viability and survival in the soil, half of the seeds collected from each treatment were buried for four weeks in forest soils and subsequently allowed to germinate before and after the breaking of dormancy. Overall, 24 percent of developing fruit were lost to insect attack. In contrast, fungi infected only 3 percent of seeds at the pre-dispersal stage. For seeds germinated directly after collection, fungicide significantly increased germination in the wetter site (Gamboa) but decreased germination in the drier site (PNM). The pre-dispersal insect exclosure treatment increased the fraction of seeds that remained dormant after burial in the soil. This result suggests that exposure to insect predators may cause physical damage to seeds that results in the loss of physical dormancy but does not necessarily increase the susceptibility of seeds to pathogen attack in the soil.
Data from: Seed predation increases from the Arctic to the Equator and from high to low elevations
Species interactions have long been predicted to increase in intensity toward the tropics and low elevations because of gradients in climate, productivity, or biodiversity. Despite their importance for understanding global ecological and evolutionary processes, plant-animal interaction gradients are particularly difficult to test systematically across large geographic gradients, and evidence from smaller, disparate studies is inconclusive. By systematically measuring postdispersal seed predation using 6995 standardized seed depots along 18 mountains in the Pacific cordillera, we found that seed predation increases by 17% from the Arctic to the Equator and by 17% from 4000 meters above sea level to sea level. Clines in total predation, likely driven by invertebrates, were consistent across treeline ecotones and within continuous forest and were better explained by climate seasonality than by productivity, biodiversity, or latitude. These results suggest that species interactions play predictably greater ecological and evolutionary roles in tropical, lowland, and other less seasonal ecosystems.
Data from: Natural habitat does not mediate vertebrate seed predation as an ecosystem dis-service to agriculture
1. Spillover of beneficial organisms from natural habitats to croplands can improve agro-ecosystem services, but wildlife can also negatively influence agricultural production. When managing agricultural landscapes to conserve biodiversity, we need to understand if the availability of natural habitats increases ecosystem dis-services such as vertebrate seed predation to avoid risking higher costs than benefits. 2. We studied whether vertebrates and their impact in crop seed predation are related to the percentage of natural (Chaparral) and semi-natural habitat (planted forest with native and exotic trees) in an agricultural landscape of Israel. We selected 20 almond and 20 sunflower study sites within a landscape with varying percentages of natural (0–61%) and semi-natural (0–70%) habitats within a 1000-m radius of their surroundings. We observed birds, trapped rodents (in almond), counted seeds and noted feeding marks to obtain seed predation rates, at each site. Within the almond crops, we physically excluded birds, rodents and both to determine their relative and combined influence on seed predation. 3. Neither vertebrate abundance nor species richness was influenced by the percentage of natural habitat. However, bird species richness increased with increasing percentage of semi-natural habitat. 4. Seed predation across both crops was not influenced by natural or semi-natural habitat but increased significantly with increasing abundance and species richness of birds. This was also reflected by the exclusions of birds, vertebrates and both to the almond crop, leading to lowest seed predation when both groups were excluded. 5. Synthesis and applications. Natural or semi-natural habitat did not influence the agro-ecosystem dis-service of seed predation by birds and rodents. Policymakers should consider promoting agri-environment schemes that include the conservation of natural habitats and the management of semi-natural habitats adjacent to cropland to enhance agro-ecosystem services meditated by beneficial organisms like natural pest enemies and pollinators without fearing increased vertebrate seed predation. In order to provide more detailed management recommendations tackling the reduction of vertebrate dis-services their feeding behaviour, metabolic needs, behaviour patterns and local abundances should be taken into account.
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Allen Brain Atlas
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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