Effects of weevil-infestation on seed dispersal of<i>Quercus aliena</i>handled by rodents

Rodents influence plant establishment and regeneration by functioning as both seed predators and dispersers. However, these rodent-plant interactions can vary significantly due to various environmental conditions and the activity of other insect seed-predators. Here, we use a combination of both field and enclosure (i.e, individual cage and semi-natural enclosure) experiments, to determine whether rodents can distinguish sound seeds from those infested with insects. We also demonstrate how such responses to insects are influenced by food abundance and other environmental factors. We presented rodents with two kinds of Quercus aliena seeds (sound and insect-infested seeds) in a subtropical forest in Qinling Mountains, central China, from September to November of 2011 to 2013. The result showed that rodents prefer to hoarded and ate sound seeds than infested seeds in the field and semi-natural enclosure, while they prefer to ate infested seeds than sound seeds in the individual cages. In addition, both hoarding and eating decisions were influenced by food abundance. Rodents hoarded more sound seeds in years of high food abundance while they consume more acorns in years of food shortage. Compared with field results, rodents reduced scatter hoarding behavior in semi-natural enclosures and ate more insect-infested seeds in smaller individual cages. These results further confirm that rodents distinguish infested seeds form non-infested seeds but demonstrate that this behavior varies with conditions (environment and food abundance). We suggest that such interactions will influence the dispersal and natural regeneration of seeds as well as predation rates on insect larvae. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Effects of insect infestation on rodent‐mediated dispersal of Quercus aliena: results from field and enclosure experiments

Zhang

Chen

Steele

et al. 2019

Integrative Zoology

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Effects of weevil-infestation on seed dispersal ofQuercus alienahandled by rodents

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Effects of insect infestation on rodent‐mediated dispersal of Quercus aliena: results from field and enclosure experiments

Effects of insect infestation on rodent‐mediated dispersal of Quercus aliena: results from field and enclosure experiments

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