Dissertation Research: Neighborhood Effects on Seed Dispersal of a Neotropical Mistletoe

依赖食果鸟类作为种子的果实植物 扩散可能会经历重要的健身后果， 鸟类觅食活动的影响。 鸟类 响应水果资源可用性的空间格局;因此， 这些图案将影响晶种沉积图案。 邻居对种子传播的影响还没有研究过。 这项研究调查了热带槲寄生的这些影响 哥斯达黎加蒙特韦尔德牧场树木中的物种。 邻域 从植物个体的角度来看，在三个阶段 鸟类的迁徙，迁徙过程中的行为，以及迁徙后 访问运动，使用高，低密度主机阵列 和槲寄生社区（CA。1公顷）将确定。 槲寄生为研究种子传播提供了良好的系统 因为鸟类的种子沉积可以直接观察到，而且， 作为寄生虫，它们有独特的传播要求。 学习系统提供了一个独特的机会， 这些效应是由于寄主和槲寄生的排列 在现场。 这项研究还将提高对以下方面的一般认识： 这些很少被研究的热带物种。 干扰栖息地，如 作为拟议的网站，在 新热带地区森林的持续丧失， 了解这些栖息地的生态相互作用， 同样越来越重要。 槲寄生是很严重的 森林砍伐地区的害虫，那里大多数易受影响的树木都留下了 因此，本研究既具有基础性，又具有应用性 兴趣

Fruiting plants that rely on frugivorous birds for seed dispersal may experience important fitness consequences resulting from neighborhood influences on bird foraging movements. Birds respond to spatial patterns of fruit resource availability; thus these patterns will influence seed deposition patterns. Neighborhood effects on seed dispersal have not been studied. This research examines these effects on a tropical mistletoe species in pasture trees at Monteverde, Costa Rica. Neighborhood effects from the individual plant perspective, on three stages of dispersal; bird visitation, behavior during visits, and post- visitation movements, using an array of high and low density host and mistletoe neighborhoods (ca. 1 ha) will be determined. Mistletoes provide good systems for examining seed dispersal because bird deposition of seeds can be observed directly, and, as parasites, they have unique dispersal requirements. The study system provides a unique opportunity to examine these effects because of the arrangement of hosts and mistletoes at the site. The study will also enhance general knowledge of these little-studied tropical species. Disturbed habitats, such as the proposed site, are of increasing importance in the neotropics with the continuing loss of forests, and an understanding of ecological interactions in these habitats is likewise of increasing importance. Mistletoes can be serious pests in deforested areas where mostly susceptible trees are left standing; thus, this study is of both basic and applied interest.