Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:53:50.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Potential effects of arboreal and terrestrial avian dispersers on seed dormancy, seed germination and seedling establishment in Ormosia (Papilionoideae) species in Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

Mercedes S. Foster
Mercedes S. Foster*
Affiliation:
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, MRC 0111, National Museum of Natural History, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
*
1Email: fosterm@si.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The relative effectiveness of arboreal or terrestrial birds at dispersing seeds of Ormosia macrocalyx and O. bopiensis (Fabaceae: Papilionoideae) were studied in south-eastern Peru. Seeds of both species were either scarified, to represent seed condition after dispersal by terrestrial birds, or left intact, to represent seed condition after dispersal by arboreal birds. Seeds were distributed along forest transects, and germination, seedling development and mortality were monitored to determine the successes of the two groups at producing seedlings. Scarified seeds germinated with the early rains of the dry-to-wet-season transition, when erratic rainfall was interspersed with long dry spells. Intact seeds germinated 30 d later when the rain was more plentiful and regular. Intact seeds of O. macrocalyx gave rise to significantly more seedlings (41.1% vs. 25.5%) than did scarified seeds, in part, because significantly more seedlings from scarified seeds (n = 20) than from intact seeds (n = 3) died from desiccation when their radicles failed to enter the dry ground present during the dry-to-wet-season transition. Also, seedlings from scarified seeds were neither larger nor more robust than those from intact seeds despite their longer growing period. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that dispersal effectiveness of arboreal birds, at least for O. macrocalyx, is greater than that of terrestrial birds. Screen-house experiments in which seedlings developed under different watering regimes supported this result. Numbers of seedlings developing from intact and scarified seeds of O. bopiensis did not differ significantly.

Keywords

OrmosiaPeruseed dispersalseed dormancyseed germinationseed predationseedling desiccationseedling developmentseedling establishment
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 24 , Issue 6 , November 2008 , pp. 619 - 627
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

AUGSPURGER, C. K. 1979. Irregular rain cues and the germination and seedling survival of a Panamanian shrub (Hybanthus prunifolius). Oecologia 44:53–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
AUGSPURGER, C. K. 1983a. Offspring recruitment around tropical trees: changes in cohort distance with time. Oikos 40:89–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
AUGSPURGER, C. K. 1983b. Seed dispersal of the tropical tree, Platypodium elegans, and the escape of its seedlings from fungal pathogens. Journal of Ecology 71:59–771.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BARNEA, A., YOM-TOV, Y. & FRIEDMAN, J. 1991. Does ingestion by birds affect seed germination? Functional Ecology 5:394–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BASKIN, C. C. & BASKIN, J. M. 1998. Seeds, ecology, biogeography and evolution of dormancy and germination. Academic Press, New York. 666 pp.Google Scholar
BEER, J. & TIDYMAN, W. 1942. The substitution of hard seeds for grit. Journal of Wildlife Management 6:70–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BLAIN, D. & KELLMAN, M. 1991. The effect of water supply on tree seed germination and seedling survival in a tropical seasonal forest in Veracruz, México. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7: 69–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CLARK, D. A. & CLARK, D. B. 1981. Effects of seed dispersal by animals on the regeneration of Bursera graveolens (Burseraceae) on Santa Fe Island, Galapagos. Oecologia (Berlin) 49:73–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CLARK, D. A. & CLARK, D. B. 1984. Spacing dynamics of a tropical rain forest tree: evaluation of the Janzen–Connell Model. American Naturalist 124:769–788.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DILLON, M. O. 1980. Ormosia. Pp. 737–743 in Dwyer, J. D. & Collaborators. Flora of Panama, Pt.V. Family 83. Leguminosae subfamily Papilionoideae (conclusion). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 67:523–818.Google Scholar
DIRZO, R. & DOMÍNGUEZ, C. A. 1986. Seed shadows, seed predation and the advantages of dispersal. Pp. 237–249 in Estrada, A. & Fleming, T. H. (eds.). Frugivores and seed dispersal. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ENGELBRECHT, B. M. J., KURSAR, T. A. & TYREE, M. T. 2005. Drought effects on seedling survival in a tropical moist forest. Trees – Structure and Function 19:312–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FOSTER, M. S. & DELAY, L. S. 1998. Dispersal of mimetic seeds of three species of Ormosia (Leguminosae). Journal of Tropical Ecology 14:389–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GALETTI, M. 2002. Seed dispersal of mimetic fruits: parasitism, mutualism, aposematism or exaptation? Pp. 177–191 in Levey, D. J., Silva, W. R. & Galetti, M. (eds.). Seed dispersal and frugivory: ecology, evolution and conservation. CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
GARWOOD, N. C. 1986. Effects of acid and hot water pretreatments and seed burial on the germination of tropical moist forest seeds. Turrialba 36:479–484.Google Scholar
GUIMARÃES, P. R., JOSÉ, J., GALETTI, M., & TRIGO, J. R. 2003. Quinolizidine alkaloids in Ormosia arborea seeds inhibit predation but not hoarding by agoutis. Journal of Chemical Ecology 29:1065–1072.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HAMMER, Ø., HARPER, D. A. T. & RYAN, P. D. 2001. PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4 (1): 9 pp.Google Scholar
JANZEN, D. H. 1970. Herbivores and the number of tree species in tropical forests. American Naturalist 104:501–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KILLEEN, T. J., GARCIA, E., E. & BECK, S. G. 1993. Guia de arboles de Bolivia. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia and Missouri Botanical Garden, La Paz. 957 pp.Google Scholar
KNAAP-VAN MEEUWEN, M. S. 1962. Preliminary revisions of some genera of Malaysian Papilionaceae IV – A revision of Ormosia. Reinwardtia 6:225–238.Google Scholar
LLOYD, H. A. & HORNING, E. C. 1958. Alkaloids of Ormosia panamensis Benth. and related species. Journal of the American Chemical Society 80:1506–1510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MERRILL, E. D. & CHEN, L. 1943. The Chinese and Indo-Chinese species of Ormosia. Sargentia 3:77–120.Google Scholar
MORAN, N. C., QUINN, G. P. & BUTLER, W. M. 1956. Cardiovascular actions of NHI-196, an alkaloid from the seeds of Ormosia panamensis, a Central American tree. Federation Proceedings 15:462.Google Scholar
MORAN, N. C., QUINN, G. P. & BUTLER, W. M. 1957. Histamine-like actions of oxypanamine, an alkaloid derived from Ormosia panamensis. Federation Proceedings 16:324.Google Scholar
NG, F. S. P. 1973. Germination of fresh seeds of Malaysian trees. Malaysian Forester 36:54–65.Google Scholar
PAROLIN, P., FERREIRA, L. V. & JUNK, W. J. 2003. Germination characteristics and establishment of trees from central Amazonian flood plains. Tropical Ecology 44:157–169.Google Scholar
PERES, C. A. & VAN ROOSMALEN, M. B. M. 1996. Avian dispersal of “mimetic seeds” of Ormosia lignivalvis by terrestrial granivores: deception or mutualism? Oikos 75:249–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POORTER, L. & MARKESTEIJN, L. 2008. Seedling traits determine drought tolerance of tropical tree species. Biotropica 40:321–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PRITCHARD, H. W., DAWS, M. I., FLETCHER, B. J., GAMÉNÉ, C. S., MSANGA, H. P. & OMONDI, W. 2004. Ecological correlates of seed desiccation tolerance in tropical African dryland trees. American Journal of Botany 91:863–870.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
QUINN, P., BUTLER, W. M. & MORAN, N. C. 1956. Neuromuscular and ganglionic blocking actions of NHI-196, a hypotensive alkaloid derived from Ormosia panamensis. Federation Proceedings 15:470.Google Scholar
RIDLEY, H. N. 1930. The dispersal of plants throughout the world. L. Reeve & Co., Ashford. 744 pp.Google Scholar
RUDD, V. E. 1965. The American species of Ormosia (Leguminosae). Contributions from the U.S. National Herbarium 32:279–384.Google Scholar
SCHUPP, E. W. 1993. Quantity, quality and the effectiveness of seed dispersal by animals. Vegetatio 107/108;15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SLOT, M. & POORTER, L. 2007. Diversity of tropical tree seedling responses to drought. Biotropica 39:683–690.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TERBORGH, J. 1983. Five New World primates: a study in comparative ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 260 pp.Google Scholar
TERBORGH, J. 1990. An overview of research at Cocha Cashu Biological Station. Pp. 48–59 in Gentry, A. H. (ed.). Four Neotropical rainforests. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
TEWKSBURY, J. J., LEVEY, D. J., HUIZINGA, M., HAAK, D. C. & TRAVESET, A. 2008. Costs and benefits of capsaicin-mediated control of gut retention in dispersers of wild chilies. Ecology 89:107–117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
TRAVESET, A. 1998. Effect of seed passage through vertebrate frugivores' guts on germination: a review. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 1:151–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TRAVESET, A., RODRÍGUEZ-PÉREZ, J. & PÍAS, B. 2008. Seed trait changes in dispersers' guts and consequences for germination and seedling growth. Ecology 89:95–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
UHL, C. 1987. Factors controlling succession following slash-and-burn agriculture in Amazonia. Journal of Ecology 75:377–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAN DER PIJL, L. 1982. Principles of dispersal in higher plants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 214 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VERDÚ, M. & TRAVESET, A. 2005. Early emergence enhances plant fitness: a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis. Ecology 86:1385–1394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar