Migratory birds aid the redistribution of plants to new climates

Daru, Barnabas H.

doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01547-1

NEWS AND VIEWS
23 June 2021

Migratory birds aid the redistribution of plants to new climates

Birds that travel long distances can disperse seeds far and wide. An assessment of the timing and direction of European bird migration reveals how these patterns might affect seed dispersal as the planet warms.

Barnabas H. Daru ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-0257 ⁰

Barnabas H. Daru
1. Barnabas H. Daru is in the Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas 78412, USA.
View author publications

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Access through your institution

Buy or subscribe

The rapid pace of global warming and its effects on habitats raise the question of whether species are able to keep up so that they remain in suitable living conditions. Some animals can move fast to adjust to a swiftly changing climate. Plants, being less mobile, rely on means such as seed dispersal by animals, wind or water to move to new areas, but this redistribution typically occurs within one kilometre of the original plant¹. Writing in Nature, González-Varo et al.² shed light on the potential capacity of migratory birds to aid seed dispersal.

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Nature 595, 34-36 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01547-1

References

Jordano, P., García, C., Godoy, J. A. & García-Castaño, J. L. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 3278–3282 (2007).
PubMed Article Google Scholar
González-Varo, J. P. et al. Nature 595, 75–79 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Viana, D. S., Santamaría, L. & Figuerola, J. Trends Ecol. Evol. 31, 763–775 (2016).
PubMed Article Google Scholar
Lehouck, V., Spanhove, T. & Lens, L. Plant Ecol. Evol. 144, 96–100 (2011).
Article Google Scholar
Shikang, S., Fuqin, W. & Yuehua, W. Sci. Rep. 5, 11615 (2015).
PubMed Article Google Scholar
Jordano, P. in Seeds: The Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities 3rd edn (ed. Gallagher, R. S.) 18–61 (CAB Int., 2014).
Google Scholar
Dingle, H. Migration: The Biology of Life on the Move (Oxford Univ. Press, 2014).
Google Scholar
Bairlein, F. Science 354, 547–548 (2016).
PubMed Article Google Scholar
Daru, B. H., Farooq, H., Antonelli, A. & Faurby, S. Nature Commun. 11, 2115 (2020).
PubMed Article Google Scholar
Rock, B. M. & Daru B. H. Front. Mar. Sci. 8, 608867 (2021).
Article Google Scholar