Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance?
The ingestion of seeds by vertebrates can affect the germinability and/or germination rate of seeds. It is, however, unclear if an earlier germination as a result of ingestion affects later plant performance. For sago pondweed, Potamogeton pectinatus , the effects of seed ingestion by ducks on both...
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crwiley:10.3732/ajb.92.4.696 2024-06-23T07:45:30+00:00 Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? Figuerola, Jordi Santamaría, Luis Green, Andy J. Luque, Isabel Alvarez, Raquel Charalambidou, Iris 2005 http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.92.4.696 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3732/ajb.92.4.696 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor American Journal of Botany volume 92, issue 4, page 696-699 ISSN 0002-9122 1537-2197 journal-article 2005 crwiley https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.92.4.696 2024-06-13T04:19:45Z The ingestion of seeds by vertebrates can affect the germinability and/or germination rate of seeds. It is, however, unclear if an earlier germination as a result of ingestion affects later plant performance. For sago pondweed, Potamogeton pectinatus , the effects of seed ingestion by ducks on both germinability and germination rate have been previously reported from laboratory experiments. We performed an experiment to determine the effects of seed ingestion by ducks on germination, seedling survival, plant growth and asexual multiplication. Both at the start and end of the winter, seeds were fed to three captive shovelers ( Anas clypeata ) and planted outdoors in water‐filled containers. Plant biomass and its allocation to vegetative parts (shoot and roots), tubers, and seeds were determined in autumn. More duck‐ingested seeds than control (uningested) seeds germinated in early winter, but this difference disappeared for seeds planted in late winter, when the treatments were first stratified for 3 mo. None of the variables for measuring seedling survival and plant performance varied between treatments. Under our experimental conditions (no herbivory or competition), ingestion by ducks in early winter resulted in increased performance for seeds surviving gut passage due to enhanced seed germinability, without other costs or benefits for the seedlings. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anas clypeata Wiley Online Library American Journal of Botany 92 4 696 699 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
The ingestion of seeds by vertebrates can affect the germinability and/or germination rate of seeds. It is, however, unclear if an earlier germination as a result of ingestion affects later plant performance. For sago pondweed, Potamogeton pectinatus , the effects of seed ingestion by ducks on both germinability and germination rate have been previously reported from laboratory experiments. We performed an experiment to determine the effects of seed ingestion by ducks on germination, seedling survival, plant growth and asexual multiplication. Both at the start and end of the winter, seeds were fed to three captive shovelers ( Anas clypeata ) and planted outdoors in water‐filled containers. Plant biomass and its allocation to vegetative parts (shoot and roots), tubers, and seeds were determined in autumn. More duck‐ingested seeds than control (uningested) seeds germinated in early winter, but this difference disappeared for seeds planted in late winter, when the treatments were first stratified for 3 mo. None of the variables for measuring seedling survival and plant performance varied between treatments. Under our experimental conditions (no herbivory or competition), ingestion by ducks in early winter resulted in increased performance for seeds surviving gut passage due to enhanced seed germinability, without other costs or benefits for the seedlings. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Figuerola, Jordi Santamaría, Luis Green, Andy J. Luque, Isabel Alvarez, Raquel Charalambidou, Iris |
spellingShingle |
Figuerola, Jordi Santamaría, Luis Green, Andy J. Luque, Isabel Alvarez, Raquel Charalambidou, Iris Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? |
author_facet |
Figuerola, Jordi Santamaría, Luis Green, Andy J. Luque, Isabel Alvarez, Raquel Charalambidou, Iris |
author_sort |
Figuerola, Jordi |
title |
Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? |
title_short |
Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? |
title_full |
Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? |
title_fullStr |
Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? |
title_sort |
endozoochorous dispersal of aquatic plants: does seed gut passage affect plant performance? |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.92.4.696 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3732/ajb.92.4.696 |
genre |
Anas clypeata |
genre_facet |
Anas clypeata |
op_source |
American Journal of Botany volume 92, issue 4, page 696-699 ISSN 0002-9122 1537-2197 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.92.4.696 |
container_title |
American Journal of Botany |
container_volume |
92 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
696 |
op_container_end_page |
699 |
_version_ |
1802640049204887552 |