Possibilities for dispersal in annual and perennial grasses in a savanna in Botswana

Dispersal of 11 dominant grass species in the savanna of southern Botswana was investigated. The dispersal is autochorous, anemochorous and epizoochorous independent of the life-cycle (annuals, perennials). Dispersal distances were estimated experimentally. Anemochorous species with a plume-like spikelet such as Chloris virgata and Enneapogon cenchroides have a low rate of descent (<1 m s^-1) and a low Reynold number (100–110). Nevertheless they can only be transported up to 13 m from the originating infructescence at a wind velocity of 10 m s^-1. Therefore, the majority of the disseminules remained near the parent plant. By analysing the seed pool under the canopy of trees of Dichrostachys cinerea epizoochorous species such as Tragus berteronianus were dominant at the cattle resting sites under trees. The results are discussed in relation to the three seed dispersal hypotheses and the model of selective interaction of dispersal, dormancy, and seed site as adaptions to variable environments.     

Comparing the potential for dispersal via waterbirds of a native and an invasive brine shrimp

1. Migratory waterbirds are likely to have a major role in the spread of many exotic aquatic invertebrates by passive dispersal. However, in the field, this has so far only been confirmed in the case of the American brine shrimp Artemia franciscana, which is spreading quickly around the Mediterranean region. 2. We compared experimentally the capacity of A. franciscana and the native brine shrimp Artemia parthenogenetica to disperse via migratory shorebirds. After Artemia resting eggs (cysts) were fed to Redshank Tringa totanus and Dunlin Calidris alpina, we compared the proportion that survived gut passage, their hatchability and their retention time within the gut. We also tested the ability of cysts to stick to the feathers of Black‐tailed Godwit Limosa limosa. 3. The proportion of ingested cysts retrieved from faeces was the same for each Artemia species (8%), and there were no significant differences in retention time (mean 1.2 h and maximum 10 h for A. parthenogenetica, 1.4 and 12 h for A. franciscana) or hatchability (11% versus 14%). The two shorebird species showed similar retention times and retrieval rates, but cysts recovered from Dunlin had a significantly higher hatchability. Only one of the 1000 A. parthenogenetica cysts and three of the 1000 A. franciscana cysts stuck to feathers. 4. These results indicate that both non‐native and native brine shrimps have a similar high capacity for endozoochory via birds, and that the invasiveness of A. franciscana is probably explained by its competitive superiority owing to high fecundity and release from cestode parasitism. Owing to their different migratory behaviour, Redshank and Dunlin are likely to have different roles as brine shrimp vectors. Brine shrimps provide a suitable model for understanding the role of birds in the dispersal of exotic aquatic invertebrates.     

Two-phase seed dispersal: linking the effects of frugivorous birds and seed-caching rodents

Frugivorous birds disperse the seeds of many fruit-bearing plants, but the fate of seeds after defecation or regurgitation is often unknown. Some rodents gather and scatter hoard seeds, and some of these may be overlooked, germinate, and establish plants. We show that these two disparate modes of seed dispersal are linked in some plants. Rodents removed large (>25 mg) seeds from simulated bird feces (pseudofeces) at rates of 8–50%/day and scatter hoarded them in soil. Ants (Formica sibylla) also harvested some seeds and carried them to their nests. Rodents carried seeds 2.5±3.2 m to cache sites (maximum 12 m) and buried seeds at 8±7 mm depth. Enclosure studies suggest that yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) made the caches. In spring, some seeds germinated from rodent caches and established seedlings, but no seedlings established directly from pseudofeces. This form of two-phase seed dispersal is important because each phase offers different benefits to plants. Frugivory by birds permits relatively long-range dispersal and potential colonization of new sites, whereas rodent caching moves seeds from exposed, low-quality sites (bird feces on the ground surface) to a soil environment that may help maintain seed viability and promote successful seedling establishment.     

Roles of cottony hairs in directed seed dispersal in riparian willows

Willows usually establish on wet substrates with fine sediments at sites that are created by large disturbances, but suitable microsites are spatially and temporally limited. Thus, we hypothesized that willow seeds are selectively dispersed to suitable microsites, such as those with a wet substrate, rather than unsuitable microsites, such as those with a dry substrate, with seedling establishment mediated by the cottony hairs attached to seeds (directed dispersal). To test our hypothesis, we compared several recruitment-related traits, including buoyancy, germination, and trapping at favorable microsites, in seeds of the riparian willows Salix sachalinensis and S. integra with and without cottony hairs in laboratory and field experiments. In both field and laboratory experiments, more seeds with cottony hairs were trapped in water and wet sand than in dry sand, in which no seeds of either species germinated. These results indicate that cottony hairs facilitate the recruitment of seeds to microsites favorable for seed germination and help seeds avoid unfavorable microsites. On the water surface, 17.6% of S. sachalinensis seeds and 68.0% S. integra seeds with cottony hairs floated for more than 6 days, whereas all seeds without cottony hairs sank immediately after being placed on the water surface. These results suggest that cottony hairs facilitate long-distance dispersal via flowing water and also help avoid germination under water, where willow seedlings fail to establish. Seeds of the two willow species were released from the cottony hairs and germinated immediately after the seeds were placed on wet sand, but not after placement on water or dry sand. These results suggest that the seeds are released from the cottony hairs when the hairs become wet and the seeds are striking to a suitable microsite for seedling establishment, such as wet sand. In riparian willows, the cottony hairs promote directed dispersal by moving seeds to discrete and predictable microsites where the seedling establishment is disproportionately high.     

Molecular evidence for long-distance dispersal in the New Zealand pteridophyte flora

Aim To examine the relative importance of long‐distance dispersal in shaping the New Zealand pteridophyte (ferns and lycophytes) flora and its relationships with other floras, with the null hypothesis that the extant New Zealand pteridophyte flora has been isolated since New Zealand’s separation from Gondwana. Location New Zealand. Methods rbcL DNA sequences were assembled for 31 New Zealand pteridophyte genera, with each genus represented by one New Zealand species and the most closely related non‐New Zealand species for which data were available. Maximum‐likelihood, maximum‐parsimony, and Bayesian analysis phylograms were constructed and used as input for r 8s molecular dating, along with 23 fossil calibrations. Divergence estimates less than conservatively recent ages for New Zealand’s geological isolation, namely H_o > 30 Ma for pairs involving New Caledonian and Norfolk Island species and H_o > 55 Ma for all others, were taken as rejection of the null hypothesis. Results The null hypothesis was rejected for all pairs except, under some parameter conditions, for those involving the New Zealand species Cardiomanes reniforme, Lindsaea trichomanoides, Loxsoma cunninghamii, Lygodium articulatum, Marattia salicina, and Pteris comans. However, the Lindsaea and Pteris results probably reflect the absence in the analyses of closely related non‐New Zealand samples, while the Marattia divergence was highly contingent on which fossil calibrations were used. Main conclusions Rejection of the null hypothesis for the majority of pairs implies that the extant New Zealand lineage has undergone long‐distance dispersal either into or out of New Zealand. The notion of a long isolation since geological separation can, therefore, be dismissed for much of New Zealand’s pteridophyte flora. The analyses do not identify the direction of the long‐distance dispersal, and these New Zealand lineages could have had vicariant origins with subsequent long‐distance emigration. However, the alternative that many extant New Zealand pteridophyte lineages only arrived by long‐distance immigration after geological isolation seems likely.     

Gone with the wind and the stream: Dispersal in the invasive species Ailanthus altissima

Dispersal is a key process in plant invasions and is strongly related to diaspore morphology. Often, dispersal comprises more than one step, and morphologies adapted to a primary dispersal mechanism can aid or detract from a secondary one. The aim of this work was to assess the relationship between primary wind dispersal and secondary water dispersal in Ailanthus altissima, an invasive tree species. Wind and water dispersal potential and their association with the morphological characteristics of samaras were assessed under controlled conditions to ensure the repeatability of the measurements. We found a direct positive relationship between primary wind and secondary water dispersal in A. altissima. The main morphological characteristics of the samara that affected the success of the two types of dispersal were side perimeter and mass. However, a possibility of dispersal specialisation exists, as one morphological characteristic (samara width) affects wind dispersal negatively but water dispersal positively, and dispersal potential and samara morphology have been shown to differ across individuals.     

Seed dispersal distance classes and dispersal modes for the European flora

Motivation

Although dispersal ability is one of the key features determining the spatial dynamics of plant populations and the structure of plant communities, it is also one of the traits for which we still lack data for most species. We compiled a comprehensive dataset of seed dispersal distance classes and predominant dispersal modes for most European vascular plants. Our seed dispersal dataset can be used in functional biogeography, dynamic vegetation modelling and ecological studies at local to continental scales.

Main Types of Variables Contained

Species were classified into seven ordered classes with similar dispersal distances estimated based on the predominant dispersal mode, the morphology of dispersal units (diaspores or propagules), life form, plant height, seed mass, habitat and known dispersal by humans. We evaluated our results by comparing them with dispersal distances calculated using the ‘dispeRsal’ function in R.

Spatial Location

Europe.

Time Period

Present.

Major Taxa and Level of Measurement

The seed dispersal dataset contains information on dispersal distance classes and the predominant dispersal mode for 10,327 most frequent and locally dominant European vascular plant species.

Software Format

Data are available in .csv format.     

Seed size and shape and persistence in the soil in the New Zealand flora

Seed size and shape predict seed persistence in the soil for British and Argentinian herbaceous plant species. Those species with small, rounded seeds tend to have persistent seeds while those with larger, more elongate or flattened seeds usually lack persistence. It has been suggested that the mechanism underlying this pattern may be ease of burial, as small, rounded seeds are incorporated into the soil more easily than large, elongate or flattened seeds and are therefore less likely to be eaten by seed predators. We tested whether seed size and shape were related to persistence in the soil for 47 species native to New Zealand forests. There was a tendency for species with persistent seeds to have smaller seeds than species with transient seeds. However, species with large and/or elongate or flattened persistent seeds were relatively common. This indicates that seed size and shape are not related to persistence in New Zealand in the same way as in Britain and Argentina. A similar negative result has been found in Australia. The underlying cause of the patterns observed is unlikely to be ease of burial, since incorporation of seeds into the soil is likely to operate in all countries in a similar manner on seeds without specialised seed burial mechanisms. Data from all four floras studied to date also suggest that species with small, rounded seeds that do not germinate immediately must have the ability to survive periods of burial.     

Fleshy-fruitedness in the New Zealand flora

Aim It has been claimed that the New Zealand flora has an unusually high frequency of fleshy-fruitedness. This paper tests whether fleshy-fruitedness is indeed more common in New Zealand than in other temperate floras, then examines the distribution of fleshy-fruitedness among taxa and floristic elements to determine whether the flora conforms to predictions for a continental island with a relictual floristic element. Lastly, I test the extent to which fleshy-fruitedness has influenced colonization success and subsequent speciation within New Zealand. Methods Information on fruit characteristics for all indigenous seed plants was extracted from the Flora of New Zealand series and analysed with χ² tests. Results Contrary to previous claims fleshy-fruitedness was not unusually common in the New Zealand flora as a whole, when compared with other temperate floras. It is only more common in alpine communities and among trees. I also found no evidence for selective immigration; fleshy-fruited New Zealand genera were not more likely, than dry-fruited genera, to also occur in Australia. Furthermore there is no evidence that the New Zealand environment has favoured fleshy-fruited taxa; there has been no autochthonous evolution of fleshy-fruitedness in New Zealand, fleshy-fruitedness has had no significant effect on speciation within New Zealand, and endemic genera are no more likely to be fleshy-fruited than nonendemic genera. Fleshy-fruitedness in New Zealand is, however, strongly related to floristic elements of the flora. New Zealand is a continental island and therefore, theoretically, those elements of the flora dating from a time when the landmass was less isolated, should show a more balanced representation of dispersal modes. Contrary to this, fleshy-fruitedness is more common among species in Gondwanan taxa or in taxa with pollen records dating to before the Miocene. Main conclusions Fleshy-fruitedness in New Zealand conforms to neither the expectations for an isolated landmasses, namely a disharmonic range of dispersal modes, nor expectations for a continental island. I suggest that this pattern may be a product of selective survival of highly vagile taxa in the low-lying archipelago that was New Zealand during the late Cretaceous to mid-Cenozoic, followed by an invasion by taxa with a broader range of dispersal modes facilitated by the establishment of the circumpolar current.     

Seed dispersal by white-tailed deer: implications for long-distance dispersal,invasion, and migration of plants in eastern North America

For many plant species in eastern North America, short observed seed dispersal distances (ranging up to a few tens of meters) fail to explain rapid rates of invasion and migration. This discrepancy points to a substantial gap in our knowledge of the mechanisms by which seeds are dispersed long distances. We investigated the potential for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimm.), the dominant large herbivore in much of eastern North America, to disperse seeds via endozoochory. This is the first comprehensive study of seed dispersal by white-tailed deer, despite a vast body of research on other aspects of their ecology. More than 70 plant species germinated from deer feces collected over a 1-year period in central New York State, USA. Viable seeds included native and alien herbs, shrubs, and trees, including several invasive introduced species, from the full range of habitat types in the local flora. A mean of >30 seeds germinated per fecal pellet group, and seeds were dispersed during all months of the year. A wide variety of presumed dispersal modes were represented (endo- and exozoochory, wind, ballistic, ant, and unassisted). The majority were species with small-seeded fruits having no obvious adaptations for dispersal, underscoring the difficulty of inferring dispersal ability from diaspore morphology. Due to their broad diet, wide-ranging movements, and relatively long gut retention times, white-tailed deer have tremendous potential for effecting long-distance seed dispersal via ingestion and defecation. We conclude that white-tailed deer represent a significant and previously unappreciated vector of seed dispersal across the North American landscape, probably contributing an important long-distance component to the seed shadows of hundreds of plant species, and providing a mechanism to help explain rapid rates of plant migration.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at     

Review of the vertebrate-mediated dispersal of the Date Palm,Phoenix dactylifera

As a major agricultural crop in the semi-arid and arid zone of North Africa and the Middle East, drupes (“fruits”) of the Date Palm Phoenix dactylifera form with their high carbohydrate content of the flesh and oils in the seed a major part of the diet of resident and migratory bird species and fruit bats. This paper reviews the range of known instances of drupe predation by volant and non-volant vertebrate vectors. While documented dispersal distances range from tens of metres to about 50 km, the efficacy of that dispersal has not been assessed in any of the papers under review. While volant animals, primarily birds, make up the greatest number of dispersal vectors and also account for the greatest number of seeds dispersed, long distance dispersal of a larger quantity of seeds per dispersal event seems to rely on terrestrial animals, primarily canids, but also bears and flightless birds, such as the Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae).     

Seed dispersal in red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) dung and its potential importance for vegetation dynamics in subalpine grasslands

Free-ranging large herbivores can influence vegetation dynamics through seed dispersal within and among habitats. We investigated the content of germinable seeds in the dung (endozoochory) of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.), the most ubiquitous wild ungulate throughout the European Alps, and compared the results with the species composition of the vegetation type in which the dung was dropped. The study was conducted in the subalpine zone of the Swiss National Park and included the three most important vegetation types for red deer: (i) intensively grazed short-grass vegetation, (ii) less intensively grazed tall-grass vegetation, and (iii) adjacent conifer forest understory vegetation. Seeds of 47 species, mostly from small-seeded herbaceous species, were recorded in dung samples with three species accounting for 65% of germinated seeds. Our results confirmed the hypotheses that (H1) small-seeded species were more likely to occur in red deer dung than larger-seeded species, though seed size was unrelated to seed density, (H2) red deer dung contained mostly seeds from short-grass vegetation, with seed species composition in dung collected from any vegetation type being most similar to species composition of relevés from short-grass vegetation, and (H3) seeds were less likely to be dispersed between vegetation types than within vegetation types, with dung dropped in short-grass vegetation having a different species composition and containing over twice as many seeds as dung dropped in the other two vegetation types. These results collectively support the hypothesis that red deer endozoochory contributes to maintaining short-grass vegetation, the favoured grazing sites of hinds in the Swiss National Park, by increasing propagule pressure of seeds from herbaceous forage species adapted to endozoochory relative to other species and especially those from later stages of secondary succession.     

Seed dispersal networks in tropical forest fragments: Area effects,remnant species,and interaction diversity

Seed dispersal interactions involve key ecological processes in tropical forests that help to maintain ecosystem functioning. Yet this functionality may be threatened by increasing habitat loss, defaunation, and fragmentation. However, generalist species, and their interactions, can benefit from the habitat change caused by human disturbance while more specialized interactions mostly disappear. Therefore, changes in the structure of the local, within fragment, networks can be expected. Here we investigated how the structure of seed dispersal networks changes along a gradient of increasing habitat fragmentation. We analyzed 16 bird seed dispersal assemblages from forest fragments of a biodiversity-rich ecosystem. We found significant species–, interaction–, and network–area relationships, yet the later was determined by the number of species remaining in each community. The number of frugivorous bird and plant species, their interactions, and the number of links per species decreases as area is lost in the fragmented landscape. In contrast, network nestedness has a negative relationship with fragment area, suggesting an increasing generalization of the network structure in the gradient of fragmentation. Network specialization was not significantly affected by area, indicating that some network properties may be invariant to disturbance. Still, the local extinction of partner species, paralleled by a loss of interactions and specialist–specialist bird–plant seed dispersal associations, suggests the functional homogenization of the system as area is lost. Our study provides empirical evidence for network–area relationships driven by the presence/absence of remnant species and the interactions they perform.     

The reproductive biology of the New Zealand flora

New Zealand's long isolation from other elements of Gondwanaland, oceanic climate, the unusual combination of ancient Gondwanic, tropical and more recently arrived elements in its flora, and its relatively depauperate pollinator and disperser fauna have set the stage for the evolution of a subtle, complex and distinctive reproductive biology. This contrasts markedly with the neighbouring continent of Australia where the fauna is diverse and the flowers vivid. Recent advances in understanding New Zealand's floral biology include evidence that the ancestor to the anthophytes was cosexual, with insect pollinators receiving stigmatic nectar rewards; the discovery of ground-level bat pollination in an obligate root parasite; the finding that the greater resource sensitivity of fruit set in males than in females may account for sex ratio variation in gynodioecious species; and, evidence for much more pronounced mast seeding at higher altitudes even in the absence of mammalian seed predators.     

Dispersal traits as indicators of vegetation dynamics in long-term old-field succession

Succession is a key ecological process that supports our understanding of community assembly and biotic interactions. Dispersal potential and dispersal strategies, such as wind- or animal-dispersal, have been assumed to be highly relevant for the success of plant species during succession. However, research yielded varying results on changes in dispersal modes between successional stages. Here, we test the hypotheses that (a) vascular plant species that use a number of dispersal modes dominate in early stages of succession while species specialized on one/few dispersal modes increase in abundance towards later stages of succession; (b) species well adapted to wind-dispersal (anemochory) will peak in abundance in early successional stages and (c) species well adapted to adhesive dispersal (epizoochory) will increase with proceeding succession. We test these hypotheses in four sites within agriculturally dominated landscapes in Germany. Agricultural use in these sites was abandoned 20–28 years ago, leaving them to secondary succession. Sites have been monitored for plant biodiversity ever since. We analyze changes in plant species richness and abundance, number of dispersal modes and two ranking indices for wind- and adhesive dispersal by applying generalized linear mixed-effect models. We used both abundance-weighted and unweighted dispersal traits in order to gain a comprehensive picture of successional developments. Hypothesis (a) was supported by unweighted but not abundance-weighted data. Anemochory showed no consistent changes across sites. In contrast, epizoochory (especially when not weighted by abundance) turned out to be an indicator of the transition from early to mid-successional stages. It increased for the first 9–16 years of succession but declined afterwards. Species richness showed an opposing pattern, while species abundance increased asymptotically. We suggest that plant-animal interactions play a key role in mediating these processes: By importing seeds of highly competitive plant species, animals are likely to promote the increasing abundance of a few dominant, highly epizoochorous species. These species outcompete weak competitors and species richness decreases. However, animals should as well promote the subsequent increase of species richness by disturbing the sites and creating small open patches. These patches are colonized by weaker competitors that are not necessarily dispersed by animals. The changes in the presence of epizoochorous species indicate the importance of plant traits and related plant–animal interactions in the succession of plant communities.