Fruit removal efficiency and success: influence of crop size in a neotropical treelet |
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Authors: | Raúl Ortiz-Pulido Yuri V Albores-Barajas S Anaid Díaz |
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Institution: | (1) Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Apartado 69, Pachuca, Hidalgo, 42001, México;(2) Departamento de Química y Biología, Escuela de Ciencias, Universidad de las Américas-Puebla, Ex-Hacienda Sta. Catarina Mártir, Cholula, Puebla, 72820, México;(3) IBLS, Div Environm & Evolutionary Biology, Univ Glasgow, Glasgow, Lanark, G12 8QQ, Scotland |
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Abstract: | The reproductive success of animal-dispersed plants is closely linked to the number of seeds that they are able to disperse.
The fruit crop size hypothesis states that a plant with large fruit crop size will attract more dispersers than a plant with
a smaller fruit crop, which may result in more seeds being dispersed from the foremost. In this study, we experimentally examined
the effect of crop size and other factors on primary seed dispersal in a neotropical shrub/tree, Casearia corymbosa (Flacourtiaceae). We used two predictive variables of reproductive success, which produce an accurate picture of seed dispersal
ratio: fruit removal efficiency (proportion of a fruit crop removed by frugivores) and fruit removal success (relative contribution
of each individual tree to the number of fruits removed in the population). We established two levels of fruit crop size at
the C. corymbosa individuals, using plants with large (150 fruits) and small crops (50 fruits). We found that individual plants with larger
crops had significantly higher values of fruit removal efficiency (92.6%) and success (5%) than plants with smaller crops
(69.3% and 1.3%, respectively). Fruit removal efficiency was related to vegetation type, plant height and fruit width, but
the variance explained by these variables was low ( < 8%). Fruit removal success was significantly related to crop size ( > 90%
of the variance explained). These results suggest that fruit removal efficiency and success are strongly related to fruit
crop size of C. corymbosa plants. |
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Keywords: | Dispersal efficiency Dispersal success Fruit removal success Fruit crop size hypothesis Seed dispersal Seed dispersal ratio |
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