Woodpeckers can act as dispersal vectors for fungi, plants, and microorganisms

Johansson, Niko R.; Kaasalainen, Ulla; Rikkinen, Jouko

doi:10.1002/ece3.7648

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Fungi present in the soil, or on plant surfaces, are easily transferred to bird feathers. Inhalation of the spores or ingestion of grain containing the fungus are also routes of infection (Johansson et al, 2021). When inhaled or ingested, these fungi are excreted and dispersed in the environment, as reported by Akter et al (2020), which analyzing the feces of migratory birds in Bangladesh, finding that these birds had an important role in the dissemination of filamentous fungi, especially Aspergillus spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Fungi Isolated from Wild Birds and Litter in the Itatiaia National Park in Southeastern Brazil

Oliveira¹,

Bonci

Conceição

et al. 2022

BioBrasil

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In Brazil, the Atlantic Forest has suffered from deforestation, which has caused impacts on its flora, fauna, and microbiota. This biome is considered one of the main tourist and birdwatching destinations due to the large number of species, especially Passeriformes. However, the fungal diversity present in these environments is little known and studied. In this work, a total of 148 samples from 74 wild birds (74 feathers and 74 feces) and 16 samples of litter were collected in Itatiaia National Park, southeastern Brazil. Filamentous fungi isolated from these samples were identified using macroscopic and microscopic characteristics. Among birds, Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Cladosporium spp., Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp. and Syncephalastrum spp. were identified in higher abundance. In litter, Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp. and Penicillium spp. were identified. These results indicate the presence of saprophytic fungi species in the feathers and feces of wild birds and in the litter of the capture site. Further studies should be conducted in order to elucidate if the mycobiota profile modifies with anthropization and if it interferes with bird health and environmental recovery.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Fungi Isolated from Wild Birds and Litter in the Itatiaia National Park in Southeastern Brazil

Oliveira¹,

Bonci

Conceição

et al. 2022

BioBrasil

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“…Recent research suggests that such secondary processes are widespread, largely cryptic and unpredictable in nature, and can be strongly influenced by biological invasions involving waterbird prey (Lovas‐Kiss, Sánchez, et al, 2018; Navarro‐Ramos et al, 2021). All birds also can disperse seeds and other plant diaspores by epizoochory (Hernández‐Brito et al, 2021; Johansson et al, 2021), or when constructing nests (Parnikoza et al, 2012). However, the literature for plant dispersal by non‐frugivorous birds other than waterbirds is limited, so from here on we compare endozoochory between waterbirds and frugivores (see also van Leeuwen, Villar, et al, 2022).…”

Section: How Do Waterbirds Differ From Other Dispersal Vectors?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersal of aquatic and terrestrial organisms by waterbirds: A review of current knowledge and future priorities

et al. 2023

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We review progress in our understanding of the importance of waterbirds as dispersal vectors of other organisms, and identify priorities for further research. Waterbirds are excellent for long‐distance dispersal (LDD), whereas other vectors such as fish and mammals disperse similar propagules, but over shorter distances. Empirical studies of internal and external transport by waterbirds have shown that the former mechanism generally is more important. Internal transport is widely recognised for aquatic plants and aquatic invertebrates with resting eggs, but also is important for other organisms (e.g., terrestrial flowering plants not dispersed by frugivores, bryophytes, tardigrades, fish eggs). Waterbird vectors also are important in terrestrial habitats, and provide connectivity across terrestrial–aquatic boundaries. There are important differences in the roles of different waterbird species, especially those using different habitats along the aquatic–terrestrial gradient. Early attempts to predict zoochory based on propagule morphology have been found wanting, and more research is needed into how the traits of vectors and vectored organisms (including life history, dormancy and growth traits) explain dispersal interactions. Experimental studies have focused on the potential of propagules to survive internal or external transport, and research into factors determining the establishment success of propagules after dispersal is lacking. Recent spatially explicit models of seed dispersal by waterbirds should be expanded to include invertebrate dispersal, and to compare multiple bird species in the same landscape. Network approaches have been applied to plant–waterbird dispersal interactions, and these are needed for invertebrates. Genetic studies support effective LDD of plants and invertebrates along waterbird flyways, but there remains a lack of examples at a local scale. Next Generation Sequencing and genomics should be applied to waterbird‐mediated dispersal across the landscape. More studies of biogeography, community ecology, or population genetics should integrate waterbird movements at the design stage. Zoochory research has paid little attention to the dispersal of non‐pathogenic microbes (both eukaryotic and prokaryotic). Nevertheless, there is evidence that dispersal via avian guts can be central to the connectivity of aquatic microbial metacommunities. More work on microbial dispersal by waterbirds should explore its implications for biogeochemistry, and the interchange with gut flora of other aquatic organisms. In the Anthropocene, the role of migratory waterbirds in LDD of plants and other organisms is particularly important, for example in compensating for loss of large migratory mammals and fish, allowing native species to adjust their distributions under global warming, and spreading alien species along flyways after their initial introductions by human vectors. Recent technological advances have opened exciting opportunities that should be fully exploited to further our understanding of dispersal by waterbirds.

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“…Additionally, the utilization of amplicon technology results in a substantial reduction in the duration of the experimental cycle [ 49 , 50 ], thus offering time-saving benefits. In order to explore the diversity of fungi carried by woodpeckers, regarding sampling methods, in addition to the contour feathers of woodpeckers used in their experiment, NR Johansson et al chose to use cotton swabs to sample the chest feathers, tail feathers, and feet of woodpeckers [ 47 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This pooled DNA product was then utilized for the construction of an Illumina paired-end library, following the genomic DNA library preparation procedure provided by Illumina. The constructed amplicon library was subjected to paired-end sequencing (2 × 250) using the Illumina MiSeq platform, sourced from Illumina, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA, and this process was carried out by Shanghai Biozeron Co., Ltd., following standard protocols [ 47 ]. After the paired-end sequencing process, the raw sequencing data were obtained in the form of FASTQ files.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Diversity of Fungi Carried by Four Common Woodpeckers in Heilongjiang Province, China

Shi,

Maqsood,

Liu

et al. 2024

JoF

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Woodpeckers exhibit selectivity when choosing tree cavities for nest development in forest ecosystems, and fungi play a significant and important role in this ecological process. Therefore, there is a complex and intricate relationship between the various behaviors of woodpeckers and the occurrence of fungal species. Research into the complex bond between fungi and woodpeckers was undertaken to provide more information about this remarkable ecological relationship. Through the process of line transect sampling, woodpecker traces were searched for, and mist nets were set up to capture them. A total of 21 woodpeckers belonging to four species were captured. High-throughput sequencing of the ITS region was performed on fungal-conserved samples to enable an in-depth analysis of the fungal communities linked to the woodpeckers’ nests. Members of Ascomycota were the most abundant in the samples, accounting for 91.96% of the total, demonstrating the importance of this group in the forest ecosystem of this station. The statistical results indicate significant differences in the fungal diversity carried by woodpeckers among the different groups. Species of Cladosporium were found to be the most prevalent of all the detected fungal genera, accounting for 49.3%. The top 15 most abundant genera were Cladosporium, Trichoderma, Beauveria, Epicococcum, Hypoxylon, Penicillium, Nigrospora, Aspergillus, Oidiodendron, Cercospora, Talaromyces, Phialemo-nium, Petriella, Cordyceps, and Sistotrema. The standard Bray–Curtis statistical technique was used in a hierarchical clustering analysis to compute inter-sample distances, allowing for the identification of patterns and correlations within the dataset. We discovered that in the grouped samples from woodpeckers, there were differences in the diversity of fungal communities carried by four woodpecker species, but the less dominant fungal species were still similar. The findings highlight the need to consider these diverse ecological linkages in woodpecker research and conservation efforts.

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Woodpeckers can act as dispersal vectors for fungi, plants, and microorganisms

Cited by 12 publications

References 82 publications

Fungi Isolated from Wild Birds and Litter in the Itatiaia National Park in Southeastern Brazil

Fungi Isolated from Wild Birds and Litter in the Itatiaia National Park in Southeastern Brazil

Dispersal of aquatic and terrestrial organisms by waterbirds: A review of current knowledge and future priorities

Community Diversity of Fungi Carried by Four Common Woodpeckers in Heilongjiang Province, China

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