Plant-animal interactions• Co-evolution?• Herbivory• Plant defense• Pollination

• Seed dispersal• Interactions across

the life cycle• Conservation:

butterflies/host plants

Photos: Ricklefs (Economy of Nature), Bradshaw & Schemske, Kalko, http://www.inriodulce.com/links/ants.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=zoochory&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xpFGUcjeEo662gWWz4DwBA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1110&bih=557#hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&q=endozoochory&spell=1&sa=X&ei=QJJGUaveKamU2QXro4G4DQ&ved=0CEwQBSgA&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43828540,d.b2I&fp=b5c2b1bea7968c7&biw=1110&bih=557&imgrc=71BDdlR5LHfVKM%3A%3BE-4GdKbjzVx_JM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcontent.answcdn.com%252Fmain%252Fcontent%252Fimg%252Fwiley%252Fvisualfood%252F15_FruitsTropicaux%252F40905-Durian.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.answers.com%252Ftopic%252Fdurian%3B418%3B500

http://www.esu.edu/~milewski/intro_biol_two/lab_4_seeds_fruits/images/berry_kiwi.jpg

http://xtine23.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/passion-fruit-seeds.jpg

http://activerain.com/blogsview/372556/ar-authentication-words-what-do-they-mean-

http://store.mancor.org/pomegranate-seeds-or-fruits-antioxidants-for-cancer-prostrate-heart-attacks.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowering_plant

http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=rkqrkrakstp&logNo=60101838355&redirect=Dlog&widgetTypeCall=true

http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/seed-swallower/

http://freeimagescollection.com/fruits/papaya-fruit-and-seeds.php

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5886553_life-cycle-plant-fertilization-flower.html

TODAY: Seed dispersal

• Definitions and issues– Seeds, Fruits, Diaspores– Dispersal Syndromes

• Abiotic• Biotic

– Coevolution?– Dispersal Kernels

• Seeds -> Seedlings

• Example

SEEDS, FRUITS, DIASPORES

http://greenanswers.com/q/228460/forests-trees-plants/plants/how-do-plants-reproduce

•Seeds : from ovules

•Fruits : from ovaries

•Diaspores : dispersal units

CLASSIC REFERENCES• Sernander 1927, Ulbrich 1928

• Ridley 1930The Dispersal of Plants

Throughout the World (700 pp)

• van der Pijl 1969Principles of Dispersal

in Higher Plants (153 pp)

Archidendron vaillantii

http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an67311471

DISPERSAL SYNDROMES(van der Pijl 1969)

Biotic

• Saurochory: reptiles• Epizoochory: animals• Ornithochory: birds

(plus mimetic deceit)

• Dyszoochory: mammals(scatter hoarding)

• Endozoochory: mammals(accidental vs intentional)

• Chiropterochory: bats• Myrmecochory: ants• Piscichory?: fishes

Abiotic

• Anemochory: wind• Hydrochory: water• Autochory: ballistics +• Barochory: gravity

DISPERSAL SYNDROMES(van der Pijl 1969)

• Saurochory: reptiles• Epizoochory: animals• Ornithochory: birds

(plus mimetic deceit)

• Dyszoochory: mammals(scatter hoarding)

• Endozoochory: mammals(accidental vs intentional)

• Chiropterochory: bats• Myrmecochory: ants• Piscichory?: fishes

• color, odor, ground-level, hard skin, ancient• waterfowl: hard seeds in mud

others: barbed, spiny, viscid, burrs• signaling color, protections against

premature consumption & digestion, odorless, sugar or oil, no hard rind (birds do not have teeth), seeds exposed in/dangling from fruit

• hard capsules or hard seeds• accidental: small, swallowed with

vegetation• intentional: color not needed, toxins

against premature consumption & digestion, signaling odor, sugar or oil, hard rind OK (do have teeth), large seeds, presentation varies by animal group

• drab color, musty odor, large seeds, strongly attached, exposed outside foliage

• white oil-bearing elaiosome , dark hard seed, scattered in leaf litter, recent

• amazonian flood plain forests

CO-EVOLUTION?

• Syndromes as evidence that animals select on plant traits?

• Do plants select on animal traits?

• Extinct dispersers?

Silva et al. 2007, Ch 26 in Seed Dispersal: Theory and its Application in a Changing World

Fruit-frugivore network in Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Parque Estadual Intervales)

CO-EVOLUTION?

• Syndromes as evidence that animals select on plant traits?

• Do plants select on animal traits?

• Extinct dispersers?Loiselle et al. 2007, Ch 8 in

Seed Dispersal: Theory and its Application in a Changing World

No. of plant species in the diets of manakins in 2 tropical rainforests

CO-EVOLUTION?

• Syndromes as evidence that animals select on plant traits?

• Do plants select on animal traits?

• Extinct dispersers?

Keystone plant species:

Figs?

DISPERSAL KERNELS(probability of moving a certain distance during one time

unit)• Seed shadow • Does it

depend upon dispersing animal?

• Community context

• Community consequence

0 20 40 60 80 100 1200

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4x 10-3

Pro

ba

bili

ty d

en

sity

Distance from source, m

compositecatbird-dispersedraccoon-dispersedrobin-dispersed

“Shoebutton Ardisia” in S. FloridaHorvitz, Koop &Erickson, unpublished

Rate of spread, m/yr3.9

11.417.934.721.6

Constant composite (ignore disperser structure)Constant disperser structured (many catbirds, no robins, few raccoons)Constant disperser structured (no robins, shift from catbird to raccoon)Constant disperser structured (shift from catbirds to robins, few raccoons)Time varying disperser structured (occassional robins)

Model

DISPERSAL KERNELS(probability of moving a certain distance during one time

unit)• Seed shadow • Does it

depend upon dispersing animal?

• Community context

• Community consequence

Dispruption by exotic animal speciesFrom Fenner & Thompson 2005, Seed Dispersal

DISPERSAL KERNELS(probability of moving a certain distance during one time

unit)• Seed shadow • Does it

depend upon dispersing animal?

• Community context

• Community consequence

Janzen-Connell: recruitment “niches”From Ricklefs , Economy of Nature

• Intense enemies under mothers• Offspring need to escape • Suitable recruitment sites away from

mom (and others of same species)

TODAY: Seed dispersal

• Definitions and issues– Seeds, Fruits, Diaspores– Dispersal Syndromes

• Abiotic• Biotic

– Coevolution?– Dispersal Kernels

• Seeds -> Seedlings

• Example

The comparative

life histories of ant- and bird-

dispersed Marantaceae

Costa RicaCosta Rica

Lowland neotropical wet forest

Dispersal biology:A set number of seeds

(no. typically available to dispersers)

was observed during 90 minutes• ant-seed

interactions • in the leaf-litter• during 524 trials• total of 1440

seeds

• bird-seed interactions

• on the plants • during 495 trials • total of 2279 seeds

Pleiostachya pruinosa

Calathea lasiostachya

Calathea marantifolia

Calathea inocephala

Bird-dispersed species…Bird-dispersed species…

Calathea lutea

Mionectes oleagineus

0

10

20

30

40

50

Mio

necte

s ole

agin

eus

Clara

vis

pretio

sa

Pipra

cor

onata

Man

acus

candei

Cyanoco

mps

a cy

anoid

es

Arrem

onops co

nirost

ris

Ramphoce

lus

passer

inii

Pipra

menta

lis

Habia

fusci

cauda

Mitr

ospin

gus c

assi

nii

other

% o

f b

ird

-see

d in

tera

ctio

ns

Corcovado (N = 516), H' = 1.50, 13 spp

La Selva (N = 390), H' = 1.92, 11 spp

Photo by D. Graham

(Horvitz, C.C., M. A. Pizo, B. Bello y Bello, J. LeCorff and R. Dirzo, 2002)

Good and bad birdsGulpers Mashers

Calathea lutea

-10 0 10 200

20

40 La Selva Emberizidae

-10 0 10 200

20

40 Pipridae

No.

of

seed

s

-10 0 10 200

20

40 Tyrannidae

-10 0 10 200

20

40 undispersed

Distance, m

-10 0 10 200

5

10Corcovado

Emberizidae

-10 0 10 200

50

100 Pipridae

-10 0 10 200

100

200 Tyrannidae

-10 0 10 200

500

1000 undispersed

Seed shadows of C. lutea differ by bird taxa

Calathea ovandensis

Calathea micans

Calathea cleistantha

Ant-dispersed speciesAnt-dispersed species

0

5

10

15

20

25

Aphae

noga

ster

ara

neoi

des

Ectat

omm

a gib

bum

Pachy

cond

yla o

bscu

ricor

nis

Solen

opsis

sp.

Ectat

omm

a ru

idum

Pachy

cond

yla a

picali

s

Pachy

cond

yla h

arpa

x

Pheido

le sp

. 2

Odo

ntom

achu

s ba

uri

Pheido

le sp

. 3

Odo

ntom

achu

s lat

iceps

Odo

ntom

achu

s sp

.

Odo

ntom

achu

s er

ythro

ceph

alus

Pheido

le a

jax

Atta ce

phalo

tes

Pheido

le sp

. 1

Pachy

cond

yla co

nstri

cta

Pheido

le sp

. 4

Wasm

annia

auro

punc

tata

Eciton

sp.

othe

r

% o

f a

nt-

se

ed

inte

rac

tio

ns Corcovado (N = 206), H' = 2.76, 24 spp

La Selva (N = 453), H' = 2.56, 26 spp

Aphaenogaster araneoides

Photo by H. Kennedy

(Horvitz, C.C., M. A. Pizo, B. Bello y Bello, J. LeCorff and R. Dirzo. 2002)

Good and bad antsPick-up and remove seeds Take aril bits, but leave seed

Odontomachus Solenopsis

cleistantha

Calathea cleistantha

-200 0 200 400 600 800 10000

10

20 La Selva Aphaenogaster

-200 0 200 400 600 800 10000

5

10Pachycondyla apicalis

No.

of se

eds

-200 0 200 400 600 800 10000

10

20Pachycondyla harpax

-200 0 200 400 600 800 10000

10

20Pheidole spp and Wasmannia

Distance, cm

Seed shadows of C. cleistantha differ by ant taxa

An hypothesis: ant-dispersed species are less gap-dependent

than bird-dispersed species

TODAY: Seed dispersal

• Definitions and issues– Seeds, Fruits, Diaspores– Dispersal Syndromes

• Abiotic• Biotic

– Coevolution?– Dispersal Kernels

• Seeds -> SeedlingsA chimpanzee giving into the temptation to eat a fig

in Kibale, as chimpanzees do very often. Photo credit: Alaine Houle

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/08/02/how-to-eat-like-a-chimpanzee/