Effects of subtle variation in forest canopy openness on cache pilferage and its implications for forest regeneration  

作　　者：Hongying WANG Bo WANG Wenwen CHEN 

机构地区：[1]School of Resources and Environmental Engineering,Anhui University,Hefei,China [2]Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecosystem Protection and Restoration,Anhui University,Hefei,China [3]Anhui Shengjin Lake Wetland Ecology National Long-term Scientific Research Base,Dongzhi,China

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2025年第1期135-143,共9页整合动物学(英文版)

基　　金：funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32171533 and 31971444);the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation(2208085J28).

摘　　要：Scatter-hoarding rodents play important roles in plant regeneration and species coexistence in many forest ecosys-tems.Cache pilferage,the behavior of rodents seeking or relocating seeds cached by other individuals,is ubiquitous during the scatter-hoarding process.The effects of canopy openness on cache pilferage have received considerable attention,most of which have focused on the comparison between full canopy cover and completely open ar-eas,such as forest gaps.However,little attention has been given to whether the subtle variation in forest canopy openness affects cache pilferage,although subtle variation in light environments exists in many forests,especially tropical and subtropical forests,where the overall canopy is large and the forest window is relatively small.Here,we directly tested these questions by simulating 400 artificial caches,each containing one seed from four selected tree species,in a subtropical forest in southwestern China.The overall canopy openness of the forest was rela-tively small(with a mean value of 11.1%),but subtle spatial variation still existed(ranging from 5.7%to 19.5%).Overall,caches with lower canopy openness were more likely to be pilfered and removed faster,although not all species showed the same pattern.Our study highlights that subtle variation in forest canopy openness,even in a closed primary forest,has significant effects on cache pilferage by rodents,which may influence the following seed germination and forest regeneration processes.Additionally,seedling species composition may further be altered because the canopy effects on cache pilferage are species-specific.

关 键 词：cache pilferage canopy openness scatter-hoarding rodent seed dispersal seed survival 

分 类 号：TP3[自动化与计算机技术—计算机科学与技术]