Seed dispersal of three sympatric oak species by forest rodents in the south slope of Qinling Mountains, China

Bo, 张博 Zhang; Zijun, 石子俊 Shi; Xiaoning, 陈晓宁 Chen; Xiang, 侯祥 Hou; Jing, 王京 Wang; Jingang, 李金钢 Li; Gang, 常罡 Chang

doi:10.5846/stxb201503050428

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Rodents consumed large seeds faster and prioritized eating small seeds in situ or after removal after pilfering cache points because the lower nutrient storage of small seeds may not be enough to compensate for the time and energy input of dispersal and hoarding [ 29 ]. Hoarding more large seeds could ensure the retrieval of cached seeds during food shortages, thus obtaining higher nutritional returns [ 7 , 8 ]. To maximize the benefits of consuming and scatter-hoarding food, rodents may have to trade-off between caching different sizes of seeds with the input required for foraging behavior processes [ 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Seed Size and Cache Density on the Seed Fate of Quercus wutaishanica Mediated by Rodents

Cheng,

Zhang,

Yan

2024

Life

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Animal-mediated seed dispersal is very important for plant population regeneration and the stability of forest ecosystems. Seed size and cache density are important factors for seed dispersal, but we still know little about seed size selection at different cache densities. Here, we conducted field experiments in a Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation in the Liupan Mountains in Ningxia province to investigate the effects of tag-marked Quercus wutaishanica seeds of different sizes and cache densities on predation and the scatter-hoarding behavior of rodents. The results showed lower proportions of intact in situ (IIS) and eaten in situ (EIS) large seeds than small seeds at all levels of cache density, with the exception of IIS seeds at a 6.25 seed·m−2 cache density. A higher proportion of small seeds were eaten after removal (EAR), but a higher proportion of large seeds were scatter-hoarded (SH) by rodents at most cache densities. Furthermore, rodents preferentially removed large seeds farther away for eating or scatter-hoarding. The IIS and EIS proportions of both large and small seeds declined, but the proportion of the two types of seeds that were EAR fluctuated, increasing with increasing cache density. Rodents preferred to increase the proportion of scatter-hoarding of large seeds with increasing cache density, whereas the proportion of scatter-hoarding of small seeds was maximized at a cache density of 6.25 seed·m−2. Both the eaten distance after removal (EDAR) and scatter-hoarded distance (SHD) increased with increasing cache density. These results suggest that large seeds are more likely to be scatter-hoarded and removed to longer distances than small ones. Rodents tended to reduce the seed proportion of EIS seeds and increased the proportion of seeds EAR and SH, and accordingly increased EDAR and SHD with increasing cache density. This study provides some scientific basis for animal-mediated seed dispersal.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Seed Size and Cache Density on the Seed Fate of Quercus wutaishanica Mediated by Rodents

Cheng,

Zhang,

Yan

2024

Life

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“…2012; Zhang et al . 2016a, 2019). These 3 species have similar tannin content but differ mainly in physical traits and nutritional content (Table 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 3 oak species including Q. aliena, Q. serrate, and Q. variabilis, critical resources for rodents, are strictly dispersed by hoarding animals (e.g. rodent, bird) (Chang et al 2012;Zhang et al 2016aZhang et al , 2019. These 3 species have similar tannin content but differ mainly in physical traits and nutritional content (Table 1).…”

Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed traits and rodent community interact to determine seed fate: evidence from both enclosure and field experiments

et al. 2021

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Animal‐mediated seed dispersal is an important ecological process in which a strong mutualism between animals and plants can arise. However, few studies have examined how a community of potential seed dispersers interacts with sympatric seed trees. We employed a series of experiments in the Qinling Mountains in both semi‐natural enclosure and the field to assess the interactions among 3 sympatric rodent species and 3 Fagaceae tree seeds. Seed traits all showed similar tannin levels but markedly different physical traits and nutritional contents. We found that seeds with heavy weight, thick coat, and high nutritional contents were less likely to be eaten in situ but more often to be eaten after dispersal or hoarded by rodents. These results support both the handling time hypothesis and the high nutrition hypothesis. Surprisingly, we also found that rodents, maybe, preferred to consume seeds with low levels of crude fiber in situ, and to harvest and hoard those with high levels of crude fiber for later consumption. The sympatric rodent species, Cansumys canus, the largest rodent in our study, harvested and hoarded more Quercus variabilis seeds with high physical and nutritional traits, while Apodemus draco, the smallest rodent, harvested more Q. serrata seeds with low physical and nutritional traits, and Niviventer confucianus harvested and hoarded more Q. aliena seeds with medium physical and nutritional traits. Our study demonstrates that different seed traits play different roles in influencing the seed fate and the shaping of mutualism and predation interactions within a community of rodent species.

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“…Sound acorns were randomly selected and slightly modified according to the improved seed labeling method proposed by Zhang and Wang (2001). A small hole with a diameter of 0.3 mm was drilled at one end away from the seed embryo and cotyledon by using a micro-drill in order to ensure that the embryo and cotyledon were not damaged in the seeds.…”

Section: Seed Markingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rodents play an important role in this process. They affect forest regeneration by dispersing seeds; then the seeds can germinate in the appropriate places (Zhang & Wang 2001;Birkedal et al 2009;Chen et al 2022;Yu et al 2022). However, few studies of oak forest ecosystems have compared the elevational patterns of small rodent diversity, seed dispersal, seed bank, and seedling abundance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High rodent abundance increases seed removal but decreases scatter‐hoarding and seedling recruitment along an elevational gradient

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2022

Integr. Zool.

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The distributions of small rodents in mountainous environments across different elevations can provide important information regarding the effects of climate change on the dispersal of plant species. However, few studies of oak forest ecosystems have compared the elevational patterns of sympatric rodent diversity, seed dispersal, seed bank, and seedling abundance. Thus, we tested the differences in the seed disperser composition and abundance, seed dispersal, seed bank abundance, and seedling recruitment for Quercus wutaishanica along 10 elevation levels in the Taihang Mountains, China. Our results provide strong evidence that complex asymmetric seed dispersal and seedling regeneration exist along an elevational gradient. The abundance of rodents had a significant negative correlation with the elevation and the seed removal rates peaked and then declined with increasing elevation. The seed removal rates were higher at middle and lower elevations than higher elevations but acorns were predated by 5 species of seed predators at middle and lower elevations, and thus, there was a lower likelihood of recruitment compared with those dropped beneath mother oaks at higher elevations. More importantly, the number of individual seeds in the seed bank and seedlings increased with the elevation, although dispersal services were reduced at sites lacking rodents. As conditional mutualists, the rodents could possibly act as antagonistic seed predators rather than mutualistic seed dispersers at low and middle elevations, thereby resulting in the asymmetric pattern of rodent and seedling abundance with increasing elevation to affect the community assembly and ecosystem functions on a large spatial scale.

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Seed dispersal of three sympatric oak species by forest rodents in the south slope of Qinling Mountains, China

Cited by 3 publications

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Effects of Seed Size and Cache Density on the Seed Fate of Quercus wutaishanica Mediated by Rodents

Effects of Seed Size and Cache Density on the Seed Fate of Quercus wutaishanica Mediated by Rodents

Seed traits and rodent community interact to determine seed fate: evidence from both enclosure and field experiments

High rodent abundance increases seed removal but decreases scatter‐hoarding and seedling recruitment along an elevational gradient

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