Vertebrate Dispersal Syndromes in Some Australian and New Zealand Plant Communities, with Geographic Comparisons

Willson, Mary F.; Irvine, Anthony K.; Walsh, N. G.

doi:10.2307/2388704

Cited by 271 publications

(268 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The proportions of fruit colours appear to be similar to data from elsewhere in Australasia (Willson et al 1989), but distinct from areas such as southern Africa, where there are higher proportions of green and brown fruits, a factor attributable to the importance of large mammals (Gautier-Hion et al 1985, Knight & Siegfried 1983. The proportion of functionally fleshy fruits we recorded is similar to that observed in other tropical regions, and elsewhere in Australasia.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…The reasons for this are unclear, but may relate to different frugivore compositions. Webb & Tracey (1981) and Willson et al (1989) have used a fruit diameter of 2 cm as an upper threshold for effective dispersal by volant animals in Australia. In all, 16% of the New Caledonian tree species we examined had fleshy fruits (drupes, berries and figs) larger than this.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many other papers have used mass as a measurement of fruit and seed size. We chose length and width (diameter) so that direct comparisons could be made with the work of Osunkoya (1996) (and others), because dimensions are of more obvious relevance to potential dispersers (Jordano 1995, Willson et al 1989, and to minimize damage to herbarium specimens. If propagules had appendages such as papery wings that were readily separable from the body of the organ, these were not included in measurements.…”

Section: Quantitative Charactersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reproductive traits of tropical rain-forest trees in New Caledonia

2003

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Reproductive traits of 123 species of rain-forest tree from ultramafic regions of New Caledonia were assessed, mainly from herbarium specimens. Most species had extremely small, simple, pale-coloured flowers that are probably mainly pollinated by small insects, but not including bees. The seeds of most species were considered to be bird dispersed. However, wind is also important for pollination and seed dispersal. The phenological trend was for an increase in the number of species flowering and fruiting around the end of the warm dry season/start of the hot wet season, followed by a decline at the end of the wet season, and lower proportions during the cooler season. Seed size was significantly correlated with fruit size. Other correlations, between flower size and fruit size, and between seed size and seed number, were significant using species as independent observations, but did not hold following phylogenetic correction. Compared with non-dioecious species, dioecious species had significantly larger seeds, and a greater proportion of species with biotic dispersal, abiotic pollination and solitary (female) flowers. The long-term persistence of at least the larger-seeded tree species in New Caledonia is precarious, since the endemic giant pigeon, Ducula goliath, is probably their principal effective disperser, and this species is in decline.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quantitative Charactersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reproductive traits of tropical rain-forest trees in New Caledonia

2003

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“…Análise dos dados -A coloração dos diásporos maduros foi classificada, com alterações, de acordo com as categorias propostas por Willson et al (1989): preto, vermelho, laranja, amarelo, branco, verde/ marrom, azul e bicolorido morfológico. Na categoria "preto" foram incluídos também os diásporos de coloração atropurpúrea, na "branco" os diásporos de colorações claras, e na categoria "bicolorido morfológico" as espécies com diásporos contrastantes com estruturas adjacentes conspícuas, como receptáculos florais coloridos.…”

Section: Methodsunclassified

“…Os diásporos foram relacionados à síndrome de ornitocoria quando o comprimento foi inferior a 2 cm, e à mamaliocoria quando apresentaram comprimento igual ou maior que 2 cm (Willson et al 1989).…”

Section: Methodsunclassified

Padrões morfológicos de diásporos de árvores e arvoretas zoocóricas no Parque Estadual de Itapuã, RS, Brasil

2008

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Recebido em 22/12/2006. Aceito em 2/07/2007 RESUMO -(Padrões morfológicos de diásporos de árvores e arvoretas zoocóricas no Parque Estadual de Itapuã, RS, Brasil). Diásporos são as unidades de dispersão das plantas e sua morfologia está relacionada a adaptações às estratégias de dispersão e estabelecimento. Neste estudo, foram avaliadas características morfológicas de diásporos de 64 espécies de árvores e arvoretas adaptadas ao consumo por vertebrados, no Parque Estadual de Itapuã, sul do Brasil, com o objetivo de relacionar características relevantes para a dispersão, como tamanho, formato e cor dos diásporos, com aspectos relacionados ao estabelecimento de plântulas, como massa e quantidade de sementes. Foram considerados dispersos por vertebrados aqueles diásporos que apresentaram estruturas carnosas. O comprimento médio dos diásporos das espécies analisadas foi 1,7 ± 1,67 cm (N = 1.402). Baseando-se em um diagrama de ordenação, produzido com o comprimento e massa dos diásporos e número e massa de sementes por diásporo, as espécies foram separadas em quatro grupos morfológicos. Espécies com poucas sementes por diásporo foram associadas à dispersão por aves, mamíferos ou estratégias mistas; a presença de muitas sementes de massa elevada foi associada à síndrome de mamaliocoria; e grande número de sementes de pequena massa e tamanho, à síndrome mista. O grupo com maior riqueza (35 espécies) foi aquele com diásporos pequenos e poucas sementes, potencialmente aptos à dispersão por aves e com maior proporção em massa de sementes por diásporo.Palavras-chave: síndrome zoocórica, dispersão de sementes, tamanho de sementes, coloração de frutos, forma de frutos ABSTRACT -(Morphological patterns of diaspores from animal-dispersed tree and treelet species at Parque Estadual de Itapuã, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil). Diaspores are the dispersal units of plants and their morphology is linked to dispersal and establishment strategies. In this study we evaluated diaspore morphology in 64 tree and treelet species adapted to vertebrate consumption at Parque Estadual de Itapuã, southern Brazil. Our aim was to relate features crucial to dispersal, such as diaspore length, shape and color, to features limiting establishment success, like mass and number of seeds. We considered vertebrate-dispersed diaspores to be those with fleshy structures. Average diaspore length for the species analyzed was 1.7 ± 1.67 cm (N = 1,402). Based on an ordination diagram using length and mass of diaspores plus number and mass of seeds per diaspore, we separated the species into four morphological groups. Species with few seeds per diaspore were linked to bird, mammal, or mixed dispersal strategies; species with high mass and many seeds per diaspore was an indication of mammal dispersal; and a high number of small, light seeds was associated with mixed syndrome strategists. The group with highest species richness (35 species) presented small diaspores and few seeds, most of them red or black in color, potentially adapted to bird dispersal and with ...

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Fruit choice by red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) in a tropical rain forest

Julliot

1996

Am. J. Primatol.

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This paper presents and discusses aspects of fruit selectivity by red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) in relation with morphological characteristics of fruits. These data are used to provide an answer to the following questions: which are the fruit characteristics that lead fruit choice of howler monkeys and to what extent fruit characteristics play a role in seed dispersal by monkeys? The frugivorous diet of a troop of red howler monkeys was determined during a 2‐year field study in French Guiana. The selection of fruit by howler monkeys was analyzed in relation to the fruit availability. Results showed that, although consumption followed availability, fruit species could be classified in three categories according to their selection ratio (percentage of consumption/percentage of abundance) as “high ranking,” “middle ranking,” and “low ranking” species. Also, the 97 species of fruit eaten by the monkeys were grouped according to the morphological characteristics thought to influence the monkeys' choice. This showed that howler monkeys consumed essentially fruits with juicy pulp, bright color, and a small number of well‐protected seeds. Most of high ranking species had medium‐sized fruits with yellow color, and low ranking species often had small fruits. However, howler monkeys are associated with the dispersal of seeds from fruit with a hard and indehiscent pericarp and/or large seeds, like those of the Sapotaceae family. Consequently, they can be considered as “specialized” frugivores for this fruit syndrome. © l996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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Vertebrate Dispersal Syndromes in Some Australian and New Zealand Plant Communities, with Geographic Comparisons

Cited by 271 publications

References 39 publications

Reproductive traits of tropical rain-forest trees in New Caledonia

Reproductive traits of tropical rain-forest trees in New Caledonia

Padrões morfológicos de diásporos de árvores e arvoretas zoocóricas no Parque Estadual de Itapuã, RS, Brasil

Fruit choice by red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) in a tropical rain forest

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