Population Ecology of the Cooperatively Breeding Acorn Woodpecker. (MPB-24), Volume 24

Koenig, Walter D.; Mumme, Ronald L.

doi:10.1515/9780691209623

Cited by 108 publications

(114 citation statements)

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“…Other rodents, such as the Indian giant squirrel Ratufa indica , make larder hoards in arboreal nests (Somanathan, Mali & Borges, ). Among birds, the acorn woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus stores a large number of acorns in granaries in tree trunks (Koenig & Mumme, ). In all of these cases, although it is likely rare to extremely rare, there is the potential for some seeds to survive, germinate, and emerge as seedlings.…”

Section: The Extent Of Synzoochorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Synzoochory: the ecological and evolutionary relevance of a dual interaction

2018

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Synzoochory is the dispersal of seeds by seed-caching animals. The animal partner in this interaction plays a dual role, acting both as seed disperser and seed predator. We propose that this duality gives to synzoochory two distinctive features that have crucial ecological and evolutionary consequences. First, because plants attract animals that have not only positive (seed dispersal) but also negative (seed predation) impacts on their fitness, the evolution of adaptations to synzoochory is strongly constrained. Consequently, it is not easy to identify traits that define a synzoochorous dispersal syndrome. The absence of clear adaptations entails the extra difficulty of identifying synzoochorous plants by relying on dispersal traits, limiting our ability to explore the full geographic, taxonomic and phylogenetic extent of synzoochory. Second, the positive and negative outcomes of interactions with synzoochorous animals are expressed simultaneously. Consequently, synzoochorous interactions are not exclusively mutualistic or antagonistic, but are located at some point along a mutualism-antagonism continuum. What makes synzoochory interesting and unique is that the position of each partner along the continuum can be evaluated for every plant-animal interaction, and thus the continuum can be precisely described by assessing the relative frequency of positive and negative interaction events in each pairwise interaction. Herein we explore these two main features of synzoochory with a comprehensive quantitative survey of published studies on synzoochory. Synzoochory has been recorded for at least 1339 plant species differing in life forms, from annual and short-lived herbs to long-lived trees, belonging to 641 genera and 157 families widely distributed across the globe and across the seed plant phylogeny. Over 30 animal families belonging to five disparate taxonomic groups (rodents, marsupials, birds, insects, and land crabs) potentially act as synzoochorous dispersers. Although synzoochory appears to be fundamentally a secondary dispersal mode, many abundant and dominant trees are primarily synzoochorous. In addition, we found evidence of the existence of diplosynzoochory (caching animals acting both as primary and secondary dispersers of the same individual seed), mostly in nut-bearing trees. Finally, we found that synzoochorous interactions are widely spread across the mutualism-antagonism continuum. Nevertheless, there were some differences among disperser species and functional groups. Corvids and some rodents (cricetids, nesomyids, sciurids) were located in the positive-effects region of the continuum and presumably behave mostly as dispersers, whereas land crabs and insects were located in the negative-effects extreme and behave mostly as seed predators. Our review demonstrates that synzoochory is not an anecdotal ecological interaction. Rather, it is pivotal to the functioning of many ecosystems where the natural regeneration of keystone plant species depends on the activity of granivorous animals that play a du...

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Section: The Extent Of Synzoochorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Synzoochory: the ecological and evolutionary relevance of a dual interaction

2018

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“…I still include it here since a theoretical model on storing in this species shows an important benefit of hoarding. The woodpeckers invest heavily in storing acorns even though stored food only constitutes a small fraction of the total energy that the birds need (Koenig & Mumme 1987). Stored food will hedge against stochastic variation in the environment and also a small amount of stored food can increase fitness substantially (Hitchcock & Houston 1994).…”

Section: Models Of Food Hoarding (A) Short-term Hoarding Versus Body Fatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical models of adaptive energy management in small wintering birds

Brodin

2006

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

111

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Many small passerines are resident in forests with very cold winters. Considering their size and the adverse conditions, this is a remarkable feat that requires optimal energy management in several respects, for example regulation of body fat reserves, food hoarding and night-time hypothermia. Besides their beneficial effect on survival, these behaviours also entail various costs. The scenario is complex with many potentially important factors, and this has made 'the little bird in winter' a popular topic for theoretic modellers. Many predictions could have been made intuitively, but models have been especially important when many factors interact. Predictions that hardly could have been made without models include: (i) the minimum mortality occurs at the fat level where the marginal values of starvation risk and predation risk are equal; (ii) starvation risk may also decrease when food requirement increases; (iii) mortality from starvation may correlate positively with fat reserves; (iv) the existence of food stores can increase fitness substantially even if the food is not eaten; (v) environmental changes may induce increases or decreases in the level of reserves depending on whether changes are temporary or permanent; and (vi) hoarding can also evolve under seemingly group-selectionistic conditions.

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“…Cooperative polyandry has not been found to occur regularly in any other species of mammal except for humans (e.g., Goldstein, 1971), but it occurs in some birds: dunnocks (Prunella modularis) (Davies, 1983(Davies, , 1985Davies and Lundberg, 1984), Tasmanian native hens (Tribonyx mortieril) (Ridpath, 1972b;Maynard Smith and Ridpath, 1972), acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorous) (Stacey, 1979b;Koenig and Mumme, 1987), dusky moorhens (Gallinula tenebrosa) (Garnett, 1978(Garnett, , 1980, pukekos (Porphyrio porphyrio) (Craig, 1980a;Jamieson and Craig, 1987), and Galapagos hawks (Buteo galapagoensis) (Faaborg et al, 1980;Faaborg, 1986). The causes of cooperative polyandry appear to be somewhat different in each of these species and in S. fuscicollis.…”

Section: Variable Mating Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative perspective on the evolution of tamarin and marmoset social systems

Goldizen

1990

International Journal of Primatology

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Tamarins and marmosets (callitrichids) present an unusual opportunity for study of the determinants of primate social systems, because both the mating and infant care patterns of callitrichids are variable, even within individual populations. In this paper, I briefly describe three characteristics of callitrichM social systems that distinguish them from most other primates: extensive male parental care, helping by nonreproductive individuals, and variable mating patterns. I then discuss the evolution of these characteristics and of the frequent twinning exhibited by callitrichids. I suggest that an ancestor of modern callitrichids gave birth to a single offspring at a time, mated monogamously, and had significant paternal care. The idea that males of this ancestral form must have provided paternal care, even though only single infants were born, derives from a comparison of litter~mother weight ratios in modern primate species. Twinning perhaps then evolved because of a combination of dwarfing in the callitrichid lineage, leading to higher litter~mother weight ratios, and a high infant mortality rate, and because the extensive paternal care already present facilitated the raising of twins. I propose that the helping behavior of older offspring may have coevolved with twinning, because helpers would have increased the chances of survival of twins, and the presence of twins would have increased the benefits of helping. Finally, the high costs of raising twins and the variability of group compositions, especially the fact that some groups would not have had older offspring to serve as helpers, may have selected for faeultative polyandry in saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis) and perhaps in other callitrichid species. Both help-1Department of Anthropology, 1054 LSA Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109. 2present address:

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Population Ecology of the Cooperatively Breeding Acorn Woodpecker. (MPB-24), Volume 24

Cited by 108 publications

References 0 publications

Synzoochory: the ecological and evolutionary relevance of a dual interaction

Synzoochory: the ecological and evolutionary relevance of a dual interaction

Theoretical models of adaptive energy management in small wintering birds

A comparative perspective on the evolution of tamarin and marmoset social systems

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