| The effect of seed size on seed fate in a subtropical forest, southwest of China | |
Lang, Zhengwei; Wang, Bo
| |
| 2016 | |
| Source Publication | IFOREST-BIOGEOSCIENCES AND FORESTRY
 |
| Volume | 9Issue:xPages:652-657 |
| Abstract | Scatter-hoarding rodents acting both as seed predators and dispersers usually play an important role in seed dispersal of many plant species. Seed size is thought to essentially affect rodent scatter-hoarding processes. However, studies to date have frequently shown many controversial results regarding the effect of seed size on rodent foraging. In this study, we explored how seed size affects scatter-hoarding rodent foraging preferences in order to identify the possible reasons underlying the conflicting results reported in the scientific literature. We surveyed rodent seed predation and dispersal of five common tree species in a natural subtropical forest located in southwestern China along two seasons which were different in both seed abundances and rodent communities. Our results showed that a similar effect of seed size on rodent scatter-hoarding behavior existed in both seasons, although the seeds in spring were harvested more quickly than in autumn. Larger seeds of the small-seeded species (Castanopsis wattii, Lithocarpus hancei, Machilns yunnanensis andLithocarpus pachyphyllus) were harvested, removed, and finally cached by the rodents more frequently. For the largest-seeded species (Lithocarpus xylocarpus), seeds with smaller size were preferred during the rodent scatter-hoarding processes. Our findings support the hypothesis that scatter-hoarding rodents preferably feed on large seeds at early stage of seed dispersal, but only up to a certain threshold of seed size. |
| Document Type | 期刊论文 |
| Identifier | https://ir.xtbg.ac.cn/handle/353005/10148 |
| Collection | 2012年后新成立研究组 动植物关系组 |
| Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Lang, Zhengwei,Wang, Bo. The effect of seed size on seed fate in a subtropical forest, southwest of China[J]. IFOREST-BIOGEOSCIENCES AND FORESTRY,2016,9(x):652-657. |
| APA | Lang, Zhengwei,&Wang, Bo.(2016).The effect of seed size on seed fate in a subtropical forest, southwest of China.IFOREST-BIOGEOSCIENCES AND FORESTRY,9(x),652-657. |
| MLA | Lang, Zhengwei,et al."The effect of seed size on seed fate in a subtropical forest, southwest of China".IFOREST-BIOGEOSCIENCES AND FORESTRY 9.x(2016):652-657. |
| Files in This Item: | Download All | |||||
| File Name/Size | DocType | Version | Access | License | ||
| The effect of seed s（669KB） | 开放获取 | CC BY-NC-SA | View Download | |||
Items in the repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Edit Comment