首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
     


Evidence of endozoochory in upland geese Chloephaga picta and white‐bellied seedsnipes Attagis malouinus in sub‐Antarctic Chile
Authors:Xenabeth A. Lá  zaro,Roy Mackenzie,Jaime E. Jimé  nez
Affiliation:1. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville FL, USA ; 2. Sub‐Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas Chile ; 3. Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Santiago Chile ; 4. Department of Biological Sciences and Advanced Environmental Research Institute, University of North Texas, Denton TX, USA
Abstract:Birds are known to act as potential vectors for the exogenous dispersal of bryophyte diaspores. Given the totipotency of vegetative tissue of many bryophytes, birds could also contribute to endozoochorous bryophyte dispersal. Research has shown that fecal samples of the upland goose (Chloephaga picta) and white‐bellied seedsnipe (Attagis malouinus) contain bryophyte fragments. Although few fragments from bird feces have been known to regenerate, the evidence for the viability of diaspores following passage through the bird intestinal tract remains ambiguous. We evaluated the role of endozoochory in these same herbivorous and sympatric bird species in sub‐Antarctic Chile. We hypothesized that fragments of bryophyte gametophytes retrieved from their feces are viable and capable of regenerating new plant tissue. Eleven feces disk samples containing undetermined moss fragments from C. picta (N = 6) and A. malouinus (N = 5) and six moss fragment samples from wild‐collected mosses (Conostomum tetragonum, Syntrichia robusta, and Polytrichum strictum) were grown ex situ in peat soil and in vitro using a agar Gamborg medium. After 91 days, 20% of fragments from A. malouinus feces, 50% of fragments from C. picta feces, and 67% of propagules from wild mosses produced new growth. The fact that moss diaspores remained viable and can regenerate under experimental conditions following the passage through the intestinal tracts of these robust fliers and altitudinal and latitudinal migrants suggests that sub‐Antarctic birds might play a role in bryophyte dispersal. This relationship may have important implications in the way bryophytes disperse and colonize habitats facing climate change.
Keywords:birds, bryophyte dispersal, endozoochory, mosses, sub‐  Antarctic
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号