Abstract
Seed dispersal may involve different vectors of dispersal in two or more sequential phases (i.e., diplochory). However, contributions of each phase to the overall seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) are poorly understood and hard to evaluate due to post-dispersal processes that affect seed and seedling survival. We investigated the simultaneous bird (phase 1, in plant canopy) and ant (phase 2, on the floor) contributions to SDE with the ornithochoric shrub Erythroxylum ambiguum in a Brazilian Atlantic forest. Twelve species of birds fed on fruit and dispersed approximately 26 % of the seed crop. The remaining seed crop, 90 % of which contained viable seeds, fell to the ground beneath the parental plant. Ants either cleaned seeds in fruits or carried fallen fruit and seeds from bird feces to their nests. Although E. ambiguum has no adaptation for ant dispersal, ants were as quantitatively important as birds. Birds and ants equally increased germination rates compared to controls. However, birds deposited seeds farther from the parent, where seedling survival was higher (78 %) than it was beneath the parent (44 %), whereas ants carried seeds to their nests, where seedling survival was higher (83 %) than in controls away from their nests (63 %). Diplochory allowed a 42 % increase in SDE compared to dispersal in phase 1 alone. High lipid content in the fruit pulp of E. ambiguum may facilitate the inclusion of ants in a second step of dispersal after diaspores reach the floor. Ants can also buffer the dispersal of diplochorous plants against decreases in phase 1 dispersers.
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Acknowledgments
This article is part of the thesis of P. H. S. A. C. funded by the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq 478938/2011-0) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior. We thank M. A. Pizo and A. J. Piratelli for criticism. Comments from E. W. Schupp and an anonymous referee helped us to improve the manuscript. We thank S. M. Rodrigues and A. J. Piratelli for sharing data on bird frugivory, F. F. M. Capelo for plant identification, A. J. Raszl for chemical analysis, and R. F. Mantezi, A. S. F. Silva and the Zoológico Municipal de Sorocaba for the facilities to perform the bird feeding trials. We thank the Fundação Florestal de São Paulo and the staff of CBSP for the research license and logistic support. We are grateful to B. J. Lopes, D. J. Moreno, J. P. Line, J. Lima, L. M. S. A. Camargo, S. Z. T. Amancio and V. M. Silva for help during fieldwork.
Author contribution statement
A. V. C., M. M. M. and P. H. S. A. C. designed the experiments. P. H. S. A. C. performed the experiments. R. M. F. identified the ants. P. H. S. A. C. and A. V. C. analyzed the data. A. V. C., P. H. S. A. C., M. M. M. and R. M. F. wrote the manuscript.
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Camargo, P.H.S.A., Martins, M.M., Feitosa, R.M. et al. Bird and ant synergy increases the seed dispersal effectiveness of an ornithochoric shrub. Oecologia 181, 507–518 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3571-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3571-z