Long Distance Seed Dispersal by Forest Elephants

被引:10
作者
Poulsen, John R. [1 ]
Beirne, Christopher [1 ,2 ]
Rundel, Colin [3 ]
Baldino, Melissa [1 ]
Kim, Seokmin [1 ]
Knorr, Julia [1 ]
Minich, Taylor [1 ]
Jin, Lingrong [4 ]
Nunez, Chase L. [1 ,5 ,6 ]
Xiao, Shuyun [7 ]
Mbamy, Walter [8 ]
Obiang, Guichard Ndzeng [8 ]
Masseloux, Juliana [1 ]
Nkoghe, Tanguy [8 ]
Ebanega, Medard Obiang [8 ]
Clark, Connie J. [1 ]
Fay, Michael J. [9 ]
Morkel, Pete
Okouyi, Joseph [8 ]
White, Lee J. T. [4 ,10 ]
Wright, Justin P. [4 ]
机构
[1] Duke Univ, Nicholas Sch Environm, Durham, NC 27708 USA
[2] Univ British Columbia, Fac Forestry, Dept Forest Resources Management, Vancouver, BC, Canada
[3] Duke Univ, Dept Stat Sci, Trinity Coll Arts & Sci, Durham, CA USA
[4] Univ Stirling, Sch Nat Sci, African Forest Ecol Grp, Stirling, Scotland
[5] Max Planck Inst Anim Behav, Dept Ecol Anim Soc, Constance, Germany
[6] Univ Konstanz, Ctr Adv Study Collect Behav, Constance, Germany
[7] Duke Univ, Trinity Coll Arts & Sci, Dept Biol, Durham, NC USA
[8] Omar Bongo Univ, Libreville, Gabon
[9] Agence Natl Parcs Nationaux, Libreville, Gabon
[10] Inst Rech Ecol Trop, Libreville, Gabon
来源
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION | 2021年 / 9卷
关键词
seed dispersal; elephant; tropical forest; animal movement; central Africa; gut passage time; long distance dispersal; MOVEMENT; CONSEQUENCES; PERSONALITY; BEHAVIOR;
D O I
10.3389/fevo.2021.789264
中图分类号
Q14 [生态学(生物生态学)];
学科分类号
071012 ; 0713 ;
摘要
By dispersing seeds long distances, large, fruit-eating animals influence plant population spread and community dynamics. After fruit consumption, animal gut passage time and movement determine seed dispersal patterns and distances. These, in turn, are influenced by extrinsic, environmental variables and intrinsic, individual-level variables. We simulated seed dispersal by forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) by integrating gut passage data from wild elephants with movement data from 96 individuals. On average, elephants dispersed seeds 5.3 km, with 89% of seeds dispersed farther than 1 km. The longest simulated seed dispersal distance was 101 km, with an average maximum dispersal distance of 40.1 km. Seed dispersal distances varied among national parks, perhaps due to unmeasured environmental differences such as habitat heterogeneity and configuration, but not with human disturbance or habitat openness. On average, male elephants dispersed seeds farther than females. Elephant behavioral traits strongly influenced dispersal distances, with bold, exploratory elephants dispersing seeds 1.1 km farther than shy, idler elephants. Protection of forest elephants, particularly males and highly mobile, exploratory individuals, is critical to maintaining long distance seed dispersal services that shape plant communities and tropical forest habitat.
引用
收藏
页数:10
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