Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism
- Autores
- Blanco, Guillermo; Bravo, Carolina; Pacífico, Erica C.; Chamorro, Daniel; Speziale, Karina Lilian; Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin; Hiraldo, Fernando; Tella Escobedo, José Luis
- Año de publicación
- 2016
- Idioma
- inglés
- Tipo de recurso
- artículo
- Estado
- versión publicada
- Descripción
- Despite the fact that parrots (Psitacifformes) are generalist apex frugivores, they have largely been considered plant antagonists and thus neglected as seed dispersers of their food plants. Internal dispersal was investigated by searching for seeds in faeces opportunistically collected at communal roosts, foraging sites and nests of eleven parrot species in different habitats and biomes in the Neotropics. Multiple intact seeds of seven plant species of five families were found in a variable proportion of faeces from four parrot species. The mean number of seeds of each plant species per dropping ranged between one and about sixty, with a maximum of almost five hundred seeds from the cacti Pilosocereus pachycladus in a single dropping of Lear's Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari). All seeds retrieved were small (< 3 mm) and corresponded to herbs and relatively large, multiple-seeded fleshy berries and infrutescences from shrubs, trees and columnar cacti, often also dispersed by stomatochory. An overview of the potential constraints driving seed dispersal suggest that, despite the obvious size difference between seeds dispersed by endozoochory and stomatochory, there is no clear difference in fruit size depending on the dispersal mode. Regardless of the enhanced or limited germination capability after gut transit, a relatively large proportion of cacti seeds frequently found in the faeces of two parrot species were viable according to the tetrazolium test and germination experiments. The conservative results of our exploratory sampling and a literature review clearly indicate that the importance of parrots as endozoochorous dispersers has been largely under-appreciated due to the lack of research systematically searching for seeds in their faeces. We encourage the evaluation of seed dispersal and other mutualistic interactions mediated by parrots before their generalized population declines contribute to the collapse of key ecosystem processes.
Fil: Blanco, Guillermo. National Museum of Natural Sciences; España
Fil: Bravo, Carolina. Universidad de Barcelona; España
Fil: Pacífico, Erica C.. Estación Biológica de Doñana; España
Fil: Chamorro, Daniel. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha; España
Fil: Speziale, Karina Lilian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Hiraldo, Fernando. Estación Biológica de Doñana; España
Fil: Tella Escobedo, José Luis. Estación Biológica de Doñana; España - Materia
-
ENDOZOOCHOROUS SEED DISPERSAL
FRUIT SIZE
MUTUALISTIC INTERACTIONS
PSITTACIFORMES
STOMATOCHORY
VERTEBRATE FRUGIVORES - Nivel de accesibilidad
- acceso abierto
- Condiciones de uso
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
- Repositorio
- Institución
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
- OAI Identificador
- oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/62346
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spelling |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualismBlanco, GuillermoBravo, CarolinaPacífico, Erica C.Chamorro, DanielSpeziale, Karina LilianLambertucci, Sergio AgustinHiraldo, FernandoTella Escobedo, José LuisENDOZOOCHOROUS SEED DISPERSALFRUIT SIZEMUTUALISTIC INTERACTIONSPSITTACIFORMESSTOMATOCHORYVERTEBRATE FRUGIVOREShttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Despite the fact that parrots (Psitacifformes) are generalist apex frugivores, they have largely been considered plant antagonists and thus neglected as seed dispersers of their food plants. Internal dispersal was investigated by searching for seeds in faeces opportunistically collected at communal roosts, foraging sites and nests of eleven parrot species in different habitats and biomes in the Neotropics. Multiple intact seeds of seven plant species of five families were found in a variable proportion of faeces from four parrot species. The mean number of seeds of each plant species per dropping ranged between one and about sixty, with a maximum of almost five hundred seeds from the cacti Pilosocereus pachycladus in a single dropping of Lear's Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari). All seeds retrieved were small (< 3 mm) and corresponded to herbs and relatively large, multiple-seeded fleshy berries and infrutescences from shrubs, trees and columnar cacti, often also dispersed by stomatochory. An overview of the potential constraints driving seed dispersal suggest that, despite the obvious size difference between seeds dispersed by endozoochory and stomatochory, there is no clear difference in fruit size depending on the dispersal mode. Regardless of the enhanced or limited germination capability after gut transit, a relatively large proportion of cacti seeds frequently found in the faeces of two parrot species were viable according to the tetrazolium test and germination experiments. The conservative results of our exploratory sampling and a literature review clearly indicate that the importance of parrots as endozoochorous dispersers has been largely under-appreciated due to the lack of research systematically searching for seeds in their faeces. We encourage the evaluation of seed dispersal and other mutualistic interactions mediated by parrots before their generalized population declines contribute to the collapse of key ecosystem processes.Fil: Blanco, Guillermo. National Museum of Natural Sciences; EspañaFil: Bravo, Carolina. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Pacífico, Erica C.. Estación Biológica de Doñana; EspañaFil: Chamorro, Daniel. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha; EspañaFil: Speziale, Karina Lilian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Hiraldo, Fernando. Estación Biológica de Doñana; EspañaFil: Tella Escobedo, José Luis. Estación Biológica de Doñana; EspañaPeerJ Inc.2016-02-22info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/62346Blanco, Guillermo; Bravo, Carolina; Pacífico, Erica C.; Chamorro, Daniel; Speziale, Karina Lilian; et al.; Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism; PeerJ Inc.; PeerJ; 2016; 2; 22-2-2016; 1-162167-8359CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.7717/peerj.1688info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://peerj.com/articles/1688/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:10:08Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/62346instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 10:10:09.012CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism |
title |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism |
spellingShingle |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism Blanco, Guillermo ENDOZOOCHOROUS SEED DISPERSAL FRUIT SIZE MUTUALISTIC INTERACTIONS PSITTACIFORMES STOMATOCHORY VERTEBRATE FRUGIVORES |
title_short |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism |
title_full |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism |
title_fullStr |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism |
title_full_unstemmed |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism |
title_sort |
Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism |
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Blanco, Guillermo Bravo, Carolina Pacífico, Erica C. Chamorro, Daniel Speziale, Karina Lilian Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin Hiraldo, Fernando Tella Escobedo, José Luis |
author |
Blanco, Guillermo |
author_facet |
Blanco, Guillermo Bravo, Carolina Pacífico, Erica C. Chamorro, Daniel Speziale, Karina Lilian Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin Hiraldo, Fernando Tella Escobedo, José Luis |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Bravo, Carolina Pacífico, Erica C. Chamorro, Daniel Speziale, Karina Lilian Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin Hiraldo, Fernando Tella Escobedo, José Luis |
author2_role |
author author author author author author author |
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
ENDOZOOCHOROUS SEED DISPERSAL FRUIT SIZE MUTUALISTIC INTERACTIONS PSITTACIFORMES STOMATOCHORY VERTEBRATE FRUGIVORES |
topic |
ENDOZOOCHOROUS SEED DISPERSAL FRUIT SIZE MUTUALISTIC INTERACTIONS PSITTACIFORMES STOMATOCHORY VERTEBRATE FRUGIVORES |
purl_subject.fl_str_mv |
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv |
Despite the fact that parrots (Psitacifformes) are generalist apex frugivores, they have largely been considered plant antagonists and thus neglected as seed dispersers of their food plants. Internal dispersal was investigated by searching for seeds in faeces opportunistically collected at communal roosts, foraging sites and nests of eleven parrot species in different habitats and biomes in the Neotropics. Multiple intact seeds of seven plant species of five families were found in a variable proportion of faeces from four parrot species. The mean number of seeds of each plant species per dropping ranged between one and about sixty, with a maximum of almost five hundred seeds from the cacti Pilosocereus pachycladus in a single dropping of Lear's Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari). All seeds retrieved were small (< 3 mm) and corresponded to herbs and relatively large, multiple-seeded fleshy berries and infrutescences from shrubs, trees and columnar cacti, often also dispersed by stomatochory. An overview of the potential constraints driving seed dispersal suggest that, despite the obvious size difference between seeds dispersed by endozoochory and stomatochory, there is no clear difference in fruit size depending on the dispersal mode. Regardless of the enhanced or limited germination capability after gut transit, a relatively large proportion of cacti seeds frequently found in the faeces of two parrot species were viable according to the tetrazolium test and germination experiments. The conservative results of our exploratory sampling and a literature review clearly indicate that the importance of parrots as endozoochorous dispersers has been largely under-appreciated due to the lack of research systematically searching for seeds in their faeces. We encourage the evaluation of seed dispersal and other mutualistic interactions mediated by parrots before their generalized population declines contribute to the collapse of key ecosystem processes. Fil: Blanco, Guillermo. National Museum of Natural Sciences; España Fil: Bravo, Carolina. Universidad de Barcelona; España Fil: Pacífico, Erica C.. Estación Biológica de Doñana; España Fil: Chamorro, Daniel. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha; España Fil: Speziale, Karina Lilian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Hiraldo, Fernando. Estación Biológica de Doñana; España Fil: Tella Escobedo, José Luis. Estación Biológica de Doñana; España |
description |
Despite the fact that parrots (Psitacifformes) are generalist apex frugivores, they have largely been considered plant antagonists and thus neglected as seed dispersers of their food plants. Internal dispersal was investigated by searching for seeds in faeces opportunistically collected at communal roosts, foraging sites and nests of eleven parrot species in different habitats and biomes in the Neotropics. Multiple intact seeds of seven plant species of five families were found in a variable proportion of faeces from four parrot species. The mean number of seeds of each plant species per dropping ranged between one and about sixty, with a maximum of almost five hundred seeds from the cacti Pilosocereus pachycladus in a single dropping of Lear's Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari). All seeds retrieved were small (< 3 mm) and corresponded to herbs and relatively large, multiple-seeded fleshy berries and infrutescences from shrubs, trees and columnar cacti, often also dispersed by stomatochory. An overview of the potential constraints driving seed dispersal suggest that, despite the obvious size difference between seeds dispersed by endozoochory and stomatochory, there is no clear difference in fruit size depending on the dispersal mode. Regardless of the enhanced or limited germination capability after gut transit, a relatively large proportion of cacti seeds frequently found in the faeces of two parrot species were viable according to the tetrazolium test and germination experiments. The conservative results of our exploratory sampling and a literature review clearly indicate that the importance of parrots as endozoochorous dispersers has been largely under-appreciated due to the lack of research systematically searching for seeds in their faeces. We encourage the evaluation of seed dispersal and other mutualistic interactions mediated by parrots before their generalized population declines contribute to the collapse of key ecosystem processes. |
publishDate |
2016 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2016-02-22 |
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/62346 Blanco, Guillermo; Bravo, Carolina; Pacífico, Erica C.; Chamorro, Daniel; Speziale, Karina Lilian; et al.; Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism; PeerJ Inc.; PeerJ; 2016; 2; 22-2-2016; 1-16 2167-8359 CONICET Digital CONICET |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/62346 |
identifier_str_mv |
Blanco, Guillermo; Bravo, Carolina; Pacífico, Erica C.; Chamorro, Daniel; Speziale, Karina Lilian; et al.; Internal seed dispersal by parrots: An overview of a neglected mutualism; PeerJ Inc.; PeerJ; 2016; 2; 22-2-2016; 1-16 2167-8359 CONICET Digital CONICET |
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.7717/peerj.1688 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://peerj.com/articles/1688/ |
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
PeerJ Inc. |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
PeerJ Inc. |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET) instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
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CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
collection |
CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
instname_str |
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
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CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar |
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1844613987907403776 |
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13.070432 |