Effectiveness of rodents as local seed dispersers of Holm oaks
Effectiveness of rodents as local seed dispersers of Holm oaks
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DOI：
10.1007/s00442-007-0928-3
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发表时间：
2008-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Schupp, Eugene W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gomez, Jose M.;Puerta-Pinero, Carolina;Schupp, Eugene W.
在本研究中，我们评估了啮齿动物在西班牙东南部斑块景观中作为栓皮栎分散者的有效性。我们实验跟踪了3200个标记和称重的橡子从散布到出苗的三年时间的命运。啮齿类动物处理了大约99%的橡子，分散了67%的橡子，储存了7.4%的橡子。大多数贮藏物被回收并被吃掉，第二年春天，只有1.3%的原始实验橡子在贮藏物中被发现活着。分布距离较短（平均356.2 cm，中位数157 cm），呈强烈的右偏。较重的橡子分散得更远，比较轻的橡子更有可能被储存起来并存活下来。所有的贮藏箱都埋在枯枝或泥土里，每个贮藏箱里都有一颗橡子。啮齿动物非随机地移动橡子，主要是转移到橡树和松树上。大多数幸存的橡子要么生长在橡树上，要么生长在灌木上，这是一种不利于橡树补充的微生境。结果表明，啮齿动物通过在灌木和松树中单独埋埋较高比例的橡果，对冬青具有中等效果的分散作用。然而，这种分散的代价是非常沉重的。
In this study we assessed the effectiveness of rodents as dispersers of Quercus ilex in a patchy landscape in southeastern Spain. We experimentally followed the fates of 3,200 marked and weighed acorns from dispersal through the time of seedling emergence over three years. Rodents handled about 99% of acorns, and dispersed 67% and cached 7.4% of the dispersed acorns. Most caches were recovered and consumed, and only 1.3% of the original experimental acorns were found alive in caches the following spring. Dispersal distances were short (mean = 356.2 cm, median = 157 cm) and strongly right-skewed. Heavier acorns were dispersed further and were more likely to be cached and survive than lighter acorns. All caches were in litter or soil, and each contained a single acorn. Rodents moved acorns nonrandomly, mostly to oaks and pines. Most surviving acorns were either in oaks, a poor microhabitat for oak recruitment, or shrubs, a suitable microhabitat for oak recruitment. Our results suggest that rodents, by burying a relatively high proportion of acorns singly in shrubs and pines, act as moderately effective dispersers of Q. ilex. Nonetheless, this dispersal comes at a very heavy cost.