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
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/62346

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network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
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.
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instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
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