Diet and dietary preferences of the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) in North Queensland, Australia
Diet and dietary preferences of the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) in North Queensland, Australia
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00372.x
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发表时间：
2008-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Westcott, David A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bradford, Matt G.;Dennis, Andrew J.;Westcott, David A.
我们通过鉴定在北昆士兰潮湿热带地区的高地雨林中的一组样带中发现的粪便中的种子和果实，研究了南方食火鸡（Casuarius casuarius）的饮食，这些粪便在两年多的时间里被发现。共发现198个粪便，含有56种植物。我们调查了随后 68 个月内同一地区样带上肉质果实的可用性，以确定研究区域的结果模式。每月发现的粪便数量与可用水果生物量的模式不符。水分含量、果肉与种子质量比、颜色或作物大小等水果性状与物种对饮食的贡献之间没有关系。在瘦果季节（五月至七月），食火鸡更依赖于全年不断结果的物种，因为它们在粪便中的比例明显过高，而每年结果的物种则不足。在水果供应量较高的月份（10 月至 12 月），连续结果的物种在饮食中仍然过多，但变得不那么重要，而一年生和二年生物种则变得更加重要。饮食中出现的具有大果实和大种子的物种明显多于预期，我们证实食火鸡有助于这些物种的长距离和大量的持续传播。
We investigated the diet of the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) by identifying the seeds and fruits in fecal droppings encountered on a set of transects over 2 yr in upland rain forest in the wet tropics of North Queensland. A total of 198 droppings containing 56 plant species were found. We surveyed fleshy fruit availability over the subsequent 68 mo on transects in the same area to ascertain fruiting patterns in the study area. The number of droppings found each month did not correspond to the pattern of available fruit biomass. There was no relationship between the fruit traits of moisture content, flesh to seed mass ratio, color, or crop size to contribution of a species to the diet. During the lean fruiting season (May-July) cassowaries relied more on species that fruited continuously throughout the year as they were significantly over-represented in droppings, while annual fruiting species were under-represented. During months of high fruit availability (October-December), continuously fruiting species were still over-represented in the diet but became less important while annual and biennial species became more important. Significantly more species with large fruit and large seeds appeared in the diet than expected and we confirm that the cassowary contributes to the continued dispersal of these species over long distances and in large quantities.