Article
Zoology
Si Chen, Li Feng, Bo Wang
Summary: Scatter-hoarding rodents play a crucial role in seed survival and dispersal. The effect of seed size on rodent-seed interaction varies among species and different foraging processes. Including a large number of species in studies can avoid biased results. Seed size has a consistent effect on dispersal success across species over multiple years.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Zhishu Xiao
Summary: This study aimed to investigate whether scatter-hoarding rodents could act as double mutualists for pollination and seed dispersal of the same Mucuna species. It was found that rodents play key roles in both pollination and seed dispersal of the same plant species, although seed dispersal services were slightly reduced in the absence of squirrels.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Fei Yu, Guangjie Li, Shanshan Wei, Xianfeng Yi, Jianmin Ma, Keming Ma, Guangwen Chen
Summary: This study examines the effects of different forest gap sizes on the seed-eating and scatter-hoarding behaviors of small rodents. The results show that acorns of Quercus variabilis are more likely to be scatter-hoarded in forest gaps, while they are more likely to be eaten in closed-canopy forests and forest edges. Additionally, the dispersal distance of acorns is significantly longer in forest gaps.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Larissa Ines Squinzani, Pitagoras Augusto Piana, Carlos Rodrigo Brocardo
Summary: Zoochory plays a fundamental role in the colonization of habitat by plants with large and heavy seeds like Araucaria angustifolia. This study investigates the impact of different zoochoric dispersal modes and deposition sites on the long-term recruitment success of this endangered South American conifer. The results show that seed survival is critical for the reproductive success of A. angustifolia, with only buried seeds having high survival rates.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mark Borchert
Summary: Rodents in the western USA store a large number of seeds, which provide a reliable source of seedling recruitment for desert plants. This study examined the contribution of prefire caching of short-lived seeds to postfire regeneration through artificial caching and greenhouse trials. The results suggest that prefire caches of short-lived seeds may recruit postfire seedlings, but only in specific circumstances.
WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Joseph D. M. White, Jeremy J. Midgley
Summary: The study showed that gifboom seeds were predominantly removed and cached by small mammal Acomys subspinosus, while Micaelamys namaquensis ignored them. Gifboom seeds contain toxins with deterrent effects on seed predators and produce mucilage to enhance germination.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Lin Cao, Patrick A. Jansen, Bo Wang, Chuan Yan, Zhenyu Wang, Jin Chen
Summary: The study suggests that mutual cheating can enhance and stabilize mutualisms, especially when cheating benefits both partners or counter-cheating leads to greater benefits for the victims than tolerating exploitation. Empirical evidence from a seed dispersal mutualism between rodents and plants in a tropical forest in China supports this idea, showing that mutual cheating resulted in higher dispersal and establishment rates for pruned seeds, indicating mutual benefit for both partners.
Article
Plant Sciences
V. Thomas Parker, Stephen B. Ingalls
Summary: This study investigates the applicability of the seed size-seed number allocation model in long-term persistent soil seed banks. The results show a significant negative relationship between seed bank density and fruit or seed size in Arctostaphylos species. This is attributed to seed predation and postfire seedling establishment, rather than an issue of trade-off between size and number.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Fei Yu, Jiaxin Li, Linjun Zhang, Ganggang Zhang, Yueqin Yang, Yang Wang, Xianfeng Yi
Summary: The Grain-for-Green Program in China is effective for protecting the ecological environment and mitigating disasters. This study compared the effects of different types of vegetation restoration on the rodent abundance, seed dispersal, and seedling recruitment in a forest in the Taihang Mountains. The results showed that the Grain-for-Green forest had similar effects to the natural forest in terms of rodent composition and abundance, but had higher seed removal rate and dispersal distance compared to abandoned cropland, indicating its potential for providing seed dispersal service and contributing to vegetation restoration and biodiversity conservation.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Zhishu XIAO, Marcel HOLYOAK, Charles J. KREBS, Xiaoqun HUANG
Summary: The presence of seeds with contrasting traits in adjacently placed seeds may lead to different indirect effects on seed dispersal, influencing the foraging decisions of scatter-hoarding animals. These indirect effects can significantly impact seed dispersal patterns in co-fruiting animal-dispersed trees in natural forests.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Casper H. A. van Leeuwen, Nacho Villar, Irene Mendoza Sagrera, Andy J. Green, Elisabeth S. Bakker, Merel B. Soons, Mauro Galetti, Patrick A. Jansen, Bart A. Nolet, Luis Santamaria
Summary: Many angiosperms rely on vertebrates for seed dispersal via gut passage. The seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) framework provides a method to evaluate animal-mediated seed dispersal. We propose an extended SDE framework ('eSDE') that allows comparing effectiveness among different types of plant-disperser interactions, and provide recommendations for standardized data collection protocols.
Article
Zoology
Dianwei Li, Yang Liu, Hongjia Shan, Na Li, Jingwei Hao, Binbin Yang, Ting Peng, Zhimin Jin
Summary: The study revealed significant differences in hoarding strategies of rodents for different seeds between spring and autumn, with seeds being consumed faster in spring. The fate of different seeds varied significantly, with the seeds of preferred species consumed more quickly. The most consumed seeds were those of Pinus koraiensis, while the most unconsumed seeds were those of Prunus sibirica.
Article
Zoology
Xiang Hou, Bo Zhang, Michael A. Steele, Ning Han, Tuo Feng, Jing Wang, Xiaoning Chen, Xiaolei An, Gang Chang
Summary: The traits of seeds such as weight, coat thickness, and nutritional content play a role in influencing the choice of seeds by rodents, supporting both the handling time hypothesis and the high nutrition hypothesis. Different rodent species show preferences for seeds with different physical and nutritional traits, demonstrating the complex interactions between seed dispersal, predation, and mutualism within an animal community.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Lorenzo Perez-Camacho, Pedro Villar -Salvador, Jesus A. Cuevas, Tomas Gonzalez-Sousa, Loreto Martinez-Baroja
Summary: Seed dispersal is crucial for forest regeneration and is often influenced by the behavior of seed scatter-hoarding animals. However, our understanding of the decision-making process of scatter-hoarders and how vegetation structure at different spatial scales affects dispersal patterns is limited. This study investigates seed dispersal at the forest edge across multiple spatial scales and reveals that the position of source trees in the landscape determines habitat preference and dispersal distance. The study sheds light on the intricate decision-making process of seed caching by scatter-hoarders and its consequences for the spatial patterns of seed dispersal and forest regeneration.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biology
Pedro Mittelman, Caroline Marques Dracxler, Pollyanna R. O. Santos-Coutinho, Alexandra S. Pires
Summary: Agoutis play a dual role as seed dispersers and seed predators in plant communities. Their interactions with plants go beyond simply dispersing seeds, with seed mass being a key factor in determining plant species hoarding probability. Agoutis positively contribute to carbon storage by preying on seeds of plants with lower carbon biomass and dispersing species with higher biomass.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Narendra Nelli, Diana Francis, Ricardo Fonseca, Olivier Masson, Mamadou Sow, Emmanuel Bosc
Summary: This study investigates the changes in the atmospheric electric field (Ez) during foggy conditions in the hyperarid region of the United Arab Emirates. The results show that as fog persists, Ez becomes more variable due to the absorption and redistribution of charges by the fog, which alters the ion balance and affects electrical conductivity in the atmosphere.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Ezra Hadad, Amir Balaban, Jakub Z. Kosicki, Reuven Yosef
Summary: This study investigated whether the prey of striped hyenas has adapted to the change in the natural environment caused by human activities, particularly artificial light at night (ALAN). The results showed that ALAN had no impact on the diet or den distribution of the hyenas in central Israel. The study also found that domestic animals were the most common prey, and there were also some vegetative species in their diet. Overall, the feeding behavior of striped hyenas is influenced by geographical region, habitat, and human activities.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Rahim Najafi Tireh Shabankareh, Pardis Ziaee, Mohammad Javad Abedini
Summary: This study evaluated the IMERG satellite-based precipitation product in the Fars province of Iran using daily rain gauges as reference data. The results showed that the product tends to overestimate light rainfall and underestimate heavy rainfall, with the best performance in the 40-80 mm/day range. The accuracy of the product varies by month and is less biased in months with milder temperatures. Additionally, there was a higher correlation in mid-elevated areas, positive bias in low-elevated areas, and negative bias in high-elevated areas. Longer time scales showed considerable improvement in the IMERG estimates.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)