Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations
The caching behavior of rodents is widely considered to facilitate plant seed dispersal and seedling regeneration in forest ecosystems. Studies supporting this theory have been based mainly on experimental results from natural forests; however, whether scatter-hoarding rodents play an important role...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424000441 |
| _version_ | 1797272507113275392 |
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| author | Haojun Dou Ling Hou Mingjie Hu Lin Cao |
| author_facet | Haojun Dou Ling Hou Mingjie Hu Lin Cao |
| author_sort | Haojun Dou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The caching behavior of rodents is widely considered to facilitate plant seed dispersal and seedling regeneration in forest ecosystems. Studies supporting this theory have been based mainly on experimental results from natural forests; however, whether scatter-hoarding rodents play an important role in seed dispersal and seedling regeneration in tree plantations remains unclear. In this study, we tracked 4000 seeds over 2 years in a Pinus armandii plantation in southwest China to investigate their fate from seed removal to survival after hoarding. We found that rodents removed more than 30.0% of the released seeds in both years, 9.9% to 29.1% of the seeds were scatter-hoarded under the leaf litter or on the soil surface, and a few seeds were removed two to three times. The dispersal distance of scatter-hoarded seeds ranged from 0.4 to 14.5 m with a mean of 3.55 m, and re-caching processes increased the dispersal distance of cached seeds. Additionally, 18.9% of the removed seeds survived in the cache until the end of the observation period. Our results suggested that scatter-hoarding rodents play an important role in seed dispersal in planted forests. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:29:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b7c5250a4247455d93b9baa18a1ea67e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:29:22Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-b7c5250a4247455d93b9baa18a1ea67e2024-03-06T05:27:27ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942024-04-0150e02840Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantationsHaojun Dou0Ling Hou1Mingjie Hu2Lin Cao3School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology and Institute of Biodiversity, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, ChinaSchool of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology and Institute of Biodiversity, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, ChinaSchool of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology and Institute of Biodiversity, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, ChinaCorresponding author.; School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology and Institute of Biodiversity, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, ChinaThe caching behavior of rodents is widely considered to facilitate plant seed dispersal and seedling regeneration in forest ecosystems. Studies supporting this theory have been based mainly on experimental results from natural forests; however, whether scatter-hoarding rodents play an important role in seed dispersal and seedling regeneration in tree plantations remains unclear. In this study, we tracked 4000 seeds over 2 years in a Pinus armandii plantation in southwest China to investigate their fate from seed removal to survival after hoarding. We found that rodents removed more than 30.0% of the released seeds in both years, 9.9% to 29.1% of the seeds were scatter-hoarded under the leaf litter or on the soil surface, and a few seeds were removed two to three times. The dispersal distance of scatter-hoarded seeds ranged from 0.4 to 14.5 m with a mean of 3.55 m, and re-caching processes increased the dispersal distance of cached seeds. Additionally, 18.9% of the removed seeds survived in the cache until the end of the observation period. Our results suggested that scatter-hoarding rodents play an important role in seed dispersal in planted forests.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424000441Scatter-hoardingTree plantationsSeed fatePlant-animal interactionRodents |
| spellingShingle | Haojun Dou Ling Hou Mingjie Hu Lin Cao Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations Global Ecology and Conservation Scatter-hoarding Tree plantations Seed fate Plant-animal interaction Rodents |
| title | Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations |
| title_full | Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations |
| title_fullStr | Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations |
| title_short | Scatter-hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations |
| title_sort | scatter hoarding rodents are important seed dispersers in pine plantations |
| topic | Scatter-hoarding Tree plantations Seed fate Plant-animal interaction Rodents |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424000441 |
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