<b>Fruit colour and edge effects poorly explains frugivorous bird-plant interactions in disturbed semideciduous forests

Abstract

Fruit colour is considered an important feature mediating interactions between plants and frugivorous birds. Despite that, colour mediated interactions are context-dependent, and habitat disturbances may affect how frugivorous birds perceive fruit colours. This study assessed the influence of fruit colour and edge effect on the consumption of artificial fruits by frugivorous birds in three disturbed semideciduous forests in southeastern Brazil. In each of those areas, we performed a field experiment in which we placed artificial fruits of three different colours on plants and recorded their consumption by birds. Red-coloured fruits were ingested more often than yellow, but neither of them was consumed differently from dark-blue. Edge effect only affected consumption of yellow fruits. Our data neither support the hypothesis of preferential consumption of the highest contrasting colours nor of increased fruit consumption in the forest interior. These findings indicate that colour and edge effects, as well as the interaction between them, may not be strong predictors of fruit choice by birds in disturbed environments, especially because generalist species, which are less sensitive to the physical alterations in forests, are favoured in these areas.

Bird-plant interactions on the edge of a forest fragment in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia

“…This transition is inhabited by animal species that transit naturally between the two environments to satisfy their ecological requirements (Terraube et al, 2016). The edge bird community plays an important role in the maintenance of ecological services in both the forest and the adjacent matrix, through seed dispersal and pest control (Terraube et al, 2016;Pires, Gonçalves, Ferreira, Camelo, & Melo, 2018).…”

Simplified Communities of Seed-Dispersers Limit the Composition and Flow of Seeds in Edge Habitats

“…Thus, in addition to habitat characteristics on the forest edge, altered seed dispersal patterns may contribute, in the long-term, to tree communities that are taxonomically less diverse and have lower phylogenetic and functional diversity than those in interior habitats (Santos et al, 2010;Haddad et al, 2015;Razafindratsima et al, 2018a). While much work has focused on how plant communities differ in forest edge habitat, more empirical work is needed to better understand and link how altered ecological processes such as animal-mediated seed dispersal may contribute to these differences (Murcia, 1995;Farwig et al, 2017;Bovo et al, 2018;Pires et al, 2018;Rehm et al, 2018;González-Castro et al, 2019).…”