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Ecology

The guts of seed dispersal

Nature volume 414, pages 406–407 (2001)Cite this article

Some plants have evolved delicious fruits to entice animals and birds into dispersing their seeds. But the seeds' dormancy and germinability are affected by which bird they pass through.

Hitching a lift in the gut of a bird is a pretty effective answer to the mobility problem that faces every plant. A bird eats a fruit and flies off, in due course depositing the seeds it has ingested elsewhere, allowing a new plant generation a fresh start in life. But passing through an avian alimentary system can also affect the overall viability of seeds, as well as their dormancy characteristics and germination rate. These conclusions emerge from a series of experiments with birds and berries on the Balearic Islands, conducted by A. Traveset and colleagues, and published in the latest issue of Functional Ecology1. The authors also tackle the question of whether different bird species selectively modify their internal plant passengers, introducing another variable to be taken into account in considering the ecology of vegetation regeneration.

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Figure 1

D. TIPLING/BBC WILD

References

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  1. Division of Life Sciences, King's College, Franklin–Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NN, UK

    Peter D. Moore

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  1. Peter D. Moore
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Correspondence to Peter D. Moore.

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Moore, P. The guts of seed dispersal. Nature 414, 406–407 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35106677

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