Enhanced seed dispersal of Prunus africana in fragmented and disturbed forests?

Farwig, Nina; Böhning‐Gaese, Katrin; Bleher, Bärbel

doi:10.1007/s00442-005-0288-9

Cited by 99 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Previous studies investigated the effect of forest fragmentation on seed dispersal rates within forests (e.g. Farwig et al 2006;Cordeiro and Howe 2003;Kirika et al 2008a, b;Herrera and García 2009) or studied isolated trees within the farmland (e.g. Eshiamwata et al 2006;Carrière et al 2002;Slocum and Horvitz 2000;Duncan and Chapman 1999).…”

Section: Communicated By Esa Lehikoinenmentioning

confidence: 98%

Bird diversity and seed dispersal along a human land-use gradient: high seed removal in structurally simple farmland

et al. 2010

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Only few studies have analysed the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function at the landscape scale although relationships and mechanisms known from experimental studies might be different in natural systems. We quantified bird diversity and seed removal from 38 wild cherry trees (Prunus avium) along a human land-use gradient from forest to structurally diverse to simple agricultural systems. High human land-use intensity led to low species richness and total abundance of the local bird community around wild cherry trees, as expected from previous studies. Nevertheless, trees in structurally simple agroecosystems were visited as frequently as trees in structurally complex landscapes and in forests. Furthermore, the number of seeds removed per tree did not decline with increasing human land-use intensity. Thus, ecosystem function was robust in spite of locally reduced bird diversity. The reason might be that movement behaviour and movement distances of birds changed along the human land-use gradient. It appears that birds moved longer distances to forage in fruiting cherry trees in structurally simple agroecosystems. This suggests that for systems where ecosystem function is mediated by highly mobile organisms, movement behaviour and distances are of considerable importance. Increases in movement distances with increasing human land-use intensity might also be common in other systems in which ecosystem function depends on mobile links.

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Section: Communicated By Esa Lehikoinenmentioning

confidence: 98%

Bird diversity and seed dispersal along a human land-use gradient: high seed removal in structurally simple farmland

et al. 2010

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“…Often, we could not record exactly the number of consumed fruits because several animals fed concomitantly on the plant. We therefore used the mean number of fruits consumed per minute for each class of fruit consumers from Farwig et al (2006) and Kirika et al (2008a, b; Appendix 1 in Supplementary material). To estimate fruit consumption we calculated the mean fruit consumption per minute for each weight class and multiplied it by the total time (in minutes) spent by each animal species on each plant.…”

Section: Response Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fruit size, crop mass, and plant height explain differential fruit choice of primates and birds

et al. 2010

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Seed dispersal by animals is an important ecological process shaping plant regeneration. In general, seed dispersers are highly variable and often opportunistic in their fruit choice. Despite much research, the factors that can explain patterns of fruit consumption among different animal groups remain contentious. Here, we analysed the interactions between 81 animal species feeding on the fruits of 30 plant species in Kakamega Forest, Kenya, during 840 h of observations. Our aim was to determine whether plant characteristics, fruit morphology, fruit colours and/or fruit compounds such as water, sugar, phenols and tannins explained the relative importance of fruit consumption by the two most important consumer groups, primates and birds. We found significant differences in fruit choice between both groups. Primates fed on larger fruits and on higher trees that had larger fruit crops, whereas birds were observed feeding on smaller fruits and on smaller plants producing fewer fruits. Fruit colours did not differ between fruits consumed by primates and those consumed by birds. However, differences in the fruit choice among frugivorous birds were associated with differences in fruit colours. Smaller plants with smaller fruits produced red fruits which contrasted strongly with the background; these fruits were dispersed by a distinct set of bird species. The contents of water, sugar, phenols and tannins did not differ between fruits eaten by primates and those eaten by birds. Some phylogenetic patterns were apparent; primates fed preferentially on a phylogenetically restricted subsample of large plants with large fruits of the subclass Rosidae. We discuss why the observed primate dispersal syndrome is most likely explained by a process of ecological fitting.

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“…This low average distance may result from the behavior of seed dispersers. Although numerous dispersers of P. africana swallow the fruits, some drop them directly under the maternal tree (Farwig et al, 2006). Especially monkeys spend a lot of time in the tree feeding on fruits and a large proportion of seeds is spit out and dropped under the crown (DG Berens, personal observation).…”

Section: Prevalence Of Sgs In P Africanamentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine-scale spatial genetic dynamics over the life cycle of the tropical tree Prunus africana

et al. 2014

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Studying fine-scale spatial genetic patterns across life stages is a powerful approach to identify ecological processes acting within tree populations. We investigated spatial genetic dynamics across five life stages in the insect-pollinated and vertebratedispersed tropical tree Prunus africana in Kakamega Forest, Kenya. Using six highly polymorphic microsatellite loci, we assessed genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure (SGS) from seed rain and seedlings, and different sapling stages to adult trees. We found significant SGS in all stages, potentially caused by limited seed dispersal and high recruitment rates in areas with high light availability. SGS decreased from seed and early seedling stages to older juvenile stages. Interestingly, SGS was stronger in adults than in late juveniles. The initial decrease in SGS was probably driven by both random and non-random thinning of offspring clusters during recruitment. Intergenerational variation in SGS could have been driven by variation in gene flow processes, overlapping generations in the adult stage or local selection. Our study shows that complex sequential processes during recruitment contribute to SGS of tree populations.

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Enhanced seed dispersal of Prunus africana in fragmented and disturbed forests?

Cited by 99 publications

References 59 publications

Bird diversity and seed dispersal along a human land-use gradient: high seed removal in structurally simple farmland

Bird diversity and seed dispersal along a human land-use gradient: high seed removal in structurally simple farmland

Fruit size, crop mass, and plant height explain differential fruit choice of primates and birds

Fine-scale spatial genetic dynamics over the life cycle of the tropical tree Prunus africana

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