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The effectiveness of endozoochory in three avian seed predators.
- Source :
-
Journal of Ornithology . Jan2016, Vol. 157 Issue 1, p61-73. 13p. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- The role of granivorous birds as agents of seed dispersal has been little explored and is poorly understood. We assessed the ability of three species of birds from a Central European agricultural landscape to disperse seeds of dry-fruited plants. We hypothesised that Grey Partridge Perdix perdix is a better seed disperser than either of two species of buntings-Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella and Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus-in terms of the number of intact seeds recovered from their droppings. Partridge droppings contained the highest number of intact seeds. Surprisingly, however, the number of intact seeds per 1 g of droppings was the highest in Reed Bunting, smaller in Grey Partridge and the smallest in Yellowhammer. Our findings suggest that the passage of intact seeds of dry-fruited plants through the digestive tract of seed-eating birds is most likely an effect of limited digestion, resulting from the intake of a large volume of seeds, a small part of which remains undigested. This effect could be magnified by the inclusion in the diet of some items of different digestibility (invertebrates or leaves). We suggest that non-standard dispersal of seeds with no adaptations to endozoochory by birds is a far more frequent and as yet under-appreciated phenomenon, which has potential ecological implications for the colonisation of new habitats/islands by plants. The ultimate elucidation of this process is extremely difficult and would require large sets of faeces to be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 21937192
- Volume :
- 157
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Ornithology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 112334157
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1248-8