Importance of bird traits for seed dispersal patterns of co-fruiting trees in a patchy forest  

作　　者：Ning LI Zheng WANG Shuai ZHANG Chuan YAN Xinhai LI Changhu LU 

机构地区：[1]Institute of Applied Ecology,Nanjing Xiaozhuang University,Nanjing,Jiangsu,China [2]College of Biology and Environmental Science,Nanjing Forestry University,Nanjing,China [3]Institute of Zoology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2019年第5期470-478,共9页整合动物学（英文版）

基　　金：the National Natu­ral Science Foundation of China(Grant No.31700468);the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(Grant No.BK2017636).

摘　　要：Habitat fragmentation is globally one of the most important drivers of change in biodiversity.Seed dispersal by birds is crucial for tree regeneration in remnant patchy forests,yet how bird traits affect seed dispersal pattern is still poorly understood.We studied the extent to which bird traits affect seed-removal networks and whether these traits affect seed deposition and seedling recruitment for 3 co-fruiting tree species(Taxus chinensis,Cin­namomum bodinieri and Machilus thunbergii)in a patchy forest.A total of 17,18 and 10 bird species were re­corded foraging for seeds of T.chinensis,M.thunbergii and C.bodinieri,respectively.Frequency of bird visi­tation increased with tail length,wing length and body length.Furthermore,bird body length,bill length,body weight and wing length were important in the strength of the seed removal network.During foraging,6 bird species exhibited different patterns of microhabitat utilization and their perching frequency increased with bird weight and tarsus length.As a consequence,frequency of habitat use,bird length and tarsus length were im­portant in determining the number of deposited seeds.For seedling recruitment,seedling number increased with bird tarsus length and weight,but decreased with wing length.Overall,our results showed that various bird traits not only affected seed removal,but also influenced the subsequent processes of seed deposition and seed­ling distribution in a patchy forest.These results thus highlight the importance of large-bodied birds for plant recruitment and point out the need to prioritize the protection and conservation of these birds in remnant patchy forests.

关 键 词：bird traits patchy forest seed deposition seed dispersal seed removal 

分 类 号：S51[农业科学—作物学]