DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Closing the seed dispersal loop for Guettarda viburnoides: Connecting patterns of avian seed dispersal with population growth in a Neotropical savanna

论文研究：关闭 Guettarda viburnoides 的种子传播循环：将鸟类种子传播模式与新热带稀树草原种群增长联系起来

• 批准号: 0709753
• 负责人: Bette Loiselle
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Saint Louis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-06-15 至 2009-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0709753&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Closing; seed; dispersal

Seed dispersal by vertebrates in the tropics is a key ecological process. However, not all animals that eat fruits (frugivores and omnivores) are appropriate seed dispersers. The effectiveness of a frugivore or omnivore as a seed dispersal agent depends on how many seeds it disperses, how it treats these seeds in the mouth and gut, and whether it disperses seeds to habitats suitable for survival, germination, and establishment. Therefore, not all frugivores or omnivores provide equal dispersal benefits to plants. The succession of these processes, by which seeds are dispersed away from the parent plant, germinate as seedlings, and become established as adult plants, is the "seed dispersal cycle." This study examines seed dispersal cycle consequences for recruitment of a tree species, Guettarda viburnoides (Rubiaceae) in savanna habitats of Bolivia. It addresses how specific behaviors by primary dispersers, birds, Tufted Jays and several toucan species, influence plant population growth and spread.This study will explicitly examine the effects of seed dispersal on plant population growth rates and the rate of population spread over space. Additionally, this study determines the degree to which ecological function can be substituted by different members of the frugivorous bird ecological guild. In light of the decline or even extinction of one or more dispersers, this study addresses whether the remaining species will fulfill the same services to the plant. This study will contribute to the establishment of research collaborations, and strengthen links between the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

在热带地区，脊椎动物的种子传播是一个关键的生态过程。 然而，并非所有吃水果的动物（食果动物和杂食动物）都是合适的种子传播者。 食果动物或杂食动物作为种子传播媒介的有效性取决于它传播了多少种子，它如何在口腔和肠道中处理这些种子，以及它是否将种子传播到适合生存，发芽和建立的栖息地。因此，并非所有的食果动物或杂食动物都能为植物提供同等的扩散效益。这些过程的连续性，即种子从母体植物中传播出去，发芽成苗，再长成成株，就是“种子传播循环”。“这项研究探讨了种子传播周期的后果招聘的树种，Guettarda viburnoides（Rubiaceae）在稀树草原栖息地的玻利维亚。 它解决了主要的传播者，鸟类，簇羽松鸦和几个巨嘴鸟物种的具体行为，影响植物种群的增长和spread.This研究将明确检查种子传播对植物种群增长率和种群空间传播率的影响。此外，本研究确定了在何种程度上生态功能可以取代不同成员的食果鸟类生态协会。 鉴于一个或多个传播者的减少甚至灭绝，本研究讨论了剩余的物种是否会对植物提供同样的服务。 这项研究将有助于建立研究合作，并加强圣安德烈斯市长大学和密苏里大学圣路易斯分校之间的联系。