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Yu F, Zhang L, Wang Y, Yi X, Zhang S, Ma J, Dong Z, Chen G, Ma K. High rodent abundance increases seed removal but decreases scatter-hoarding and seedling recruitment along an elevational gradient. Integr Zool 2023; 18:843-858. [PMID: 36300758 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The distributions of small rodents in mountainous environments across different elevations can provide important information regarding the effects of climate change on the dispersal of plant species. However, few studies of oak forest ecosystems have compared the elevational patterns of sympatric rodent diversity, seed dispersal, seed bank, and seedling abundance. Thus, we tested the differences in the seed disperser composition and abundance, seed dispersal, seed bank abundance, and seedling recruitment for Quercus wutaishanica along 10 elevation levels in the Taihang Mountains, China. Our results provide strong evidence that complex asymmetric seed dispersal and seedling regeneration exist along an elevational gradient. The abundance of rodents had a significant negative correlation with the elevation and the seed removal rates peaked and then declined with increasing elevation. The seed removal rates were higher at middle and lower elevations than higher elevations but acorns were predated by 5 species of seed predators at middle and lower elevations, and thus, there was a lower likelihood of recruitment compared with those dropped beneath mother oaks at higher elevations. More importantly, the number of individual seeds in the seed bank and seedlings increased with the elevation, although dispersal services were reduced at sites lacking rodents. As conditional mutualists, the rodents could possibly act as antagonistic seed predators rather than mutualistic seed dispersers at low and middle elevations, thereby resulting in the asymmetric pattern of rodent and seedling abundance with increasing elevation to affect the community assembly and ecosystem functions on a large spatial scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Linjun Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Yang Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Xianfeng Yi
- College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China
| | - Shuang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jianmin Ma
- College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Zimei Dong
- College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Guangwen Chen
- College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Keming Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Meng X, Huang G, Wang Z, Niu H, Zhang H. Asymmetric competition for seeds between two sympatric food hoarding rodents: implications for coexistence. Integr Zool 2023; 18:817-830. [PMID: 35416418 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Asymmetric competition occurs when some species have distinct advantages over their competitors and is common in animals with overlapping habitats and diet. However, the mechanism allowing coexistence between asymmetric competitors is not fully clear. Chinese white-bellied rats (Niviventer confucianus, CWR) and Korean field mice (Apodemus peninsulae, KFM) are common asymmetric competitors in shrublands and forests west of Beijing city. They share similar diet (e.g. plant seeds) and activity (nocturnal), but differ in body size (CWR are bigger than KFM), food hoarding habit (CWR: mainly larder hoarding; KFM: both larder and scatter hoarding), and ability to protect cached food (CWR are more aggressive than KFM). Here, we tested seed competition in 15 CWR-KFM pairs over a 10-day period under semi-natural enclosure conditions to uncover the differences in food hoarding, cache pilferage, and food protection between the 2 rodents, and discuss the implication for coexistence. Prior to pilferage, CWR harvested and ate more seeds than KFM. CWR tended to larder hoard seeds, whereas KFM preferred to scatter hoard seeds. Following pilferage, CWR increased consumption, decreased intensity of hoarding, and pilfered more caches from KFM than they lost, while KFM increased consumption more than they hoarded, and they preferred to hoard seeds in low and medium competition areas. Accordingly, both of the 2 rodent species increased their total energy consumption and hoarding following pilferage. Both rodent species tended to harvest seeds from the source, rather than pilfer caches from each other to compensate for cache loss via pilferage. Compared to CWR, KFM consumed fewer seeds when considering seed number, but hoarded more seeds when considering the seeds' relative energy (energy of hoarded seeds/rodent body mass2/3 ) at the end of the trials. These results suggest that asymmetric competition for food exists between CWR and KFM, but differentiation in hoarding behavior could help the subordinate species (i.e. KFM) hoard more energy than the dominant species (i.e. CWR), and may contribute to their coexistence in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Meng
- Institute of Evolution and Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Guangchuan Huang
- Institute of Evolution and Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhiyong Wang
- Institute of Evolution and Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Hongyu Niu
- Institute of Evolution and Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Hongmao Zhang
- Institute of Evolution and Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
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Yu F, Li G, Wei S, Yi X, Ma J, Ma K, Chen G. Rodent-mediated plant seed dispersal: What happens to the seeds after entering the gaps with different sizes? Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8286. [PMID: 35136541 PMCID: PMC8809425 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In general, it is accepted that gap formation significantly affects the placement of scatter-hoarded seeds by small rodents, but the effects of different forest gap sizes on the seed-eating and scatter-hoarding behaviors of small rodents remain unclear. Thus, we examined the effects of a closed-canopy forest, forest edge, and gaps with different sizes on the spatial dispersal of Quercus variabilis acorns and cache placement by small rodents using coded plastic tags in the Taihang Mountains, China. The seeds were removed rapidly, and there were significant differences in the seed-eating and caching strategies between the stand types. We found that Q. variabilis acorns were usually eaten after being removed from the closed-canopy forest and forest edges. By contrast, the Q. variabilis acorns in the forest gap stands were more likely to be scatter-hoarded. The dispersal distances of Q. variabilis acorns were significantly longer in the forest gap plots compared with the closed canopy and forest edge plots. However, the proportion of scatter-hoarded seeds did not increase significantly as the gap size increased. In small-scale oak reforestation projects or research, creating small gaps to promote rodent-mediated seed dispersal may effectively accelerate forest recovery and successional processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Yu
- College of Life SciencesHenan Normal UniversityXinxiangChina
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional EcologyResearch Center for Eco‐Environmental SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Guangjie Li
- College of Life SciencesHenan Normal UniversityXinxiangChina
| | - Shanshan Wei
- College of Life SciencesHenan Normal UniversityXinxiangChina
| | - Xianfeng Yi
- College of Life SciencesQufu Normal UniversityQufuChina
| | - Jianmin Ma
- College of Life SciencesHenan Normal UniversityXinxiangChina
| | - Keming Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional EcologyResearch Center for Eco‐Environmental SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Guangwen Chen
- College of Life SciencesHenan Normal UniversityXinxiangChina
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Sachser F, Pesendorfer M, Gratzer G, Nopp‐Mayr U. Differential spatial responses of rodents to masting on forest sites with differing disturbance history. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:11890-11902. [PMID: 34522348 PMCID: PMC8427614 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Mast seeding, the synchronized interannual variation in seed production of trees, is a well-known bottom-up driver for population densities of granivorous forest rodents. Such demographic effects also affect habitat preferences of the animals: After large seed production events, reduced habitat selectivity can lead to spillover from forest patches into adjacent alpine meadows or clear-cuts, as has been reported for human-impacted forests. In unmanaged, primeval forests, however, gaps created by natural disturbances are typical elements, yet it is unclear whether the same spillover dynamics occur under natural conditions. To determine whether annual variation in seed production drives spillover effects in naturally formed gaps, we used 14 years of small mammal trapping data combined with seed trap data to estimate population densities of Apodemus spp. mice and bank voles (Myodes glareolus) on 5 forest sites with differing disturbance history. The study sites, located in a forest dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and silver fir (Abies alba), consisted of two primeval forest sites with small canopy gaps, two sites with larger gaps (after an avalanche event and a windthrow event), and a managed forest stand with closed canopy as a control. Hierarchical Bayesian N-mixture models revealed a strong influence of seed rain on small rodent abundance, which were site-specific for M. glareolus but not for Apodemus spp. Following years of moderate or low seed crop, M. glareolus avoided open habitat patches but colonized those habitats in large numbers after full mast events, suggesting that spillover events also occur in unmanaged forests, but not in all small rodents. The species- and site-specific characteristics of local density responding to food availability have potentially long-lasting effects on forest gap regeneration dynamics and should be addressed in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederik Sachser
- Department of Forest‐ and Soil SciencesInstitute of Forest EcologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
- Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity ResearchInstitute of Wildlife Biology and Game ManagementUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Mario Pesendorfer
- Department of Forest‐ and Soil SciencesInstitute of Forest EcologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Georg Gratzer
- Department of Forest‐ and Soil SciencesInstitute of Forest EcologyUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Ursula Nopp‐Mayr
- Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity ResearchInstitute of Wildlife Biology and Game ManagementUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
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Niu H, Wang Z, Huang G, Peng C, Zhang Z, Zhang H. Responses of a scatter-hoarding squirrel to conspecific pilfering: a test of the reciprocal pilferage hypothesis. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Zhang H, Yan C, Wu S, Si J, Yi X, Li H, Zhang Z. Effects of masting on seedling establishment of a rodent-dispersed tree species in a warm-temperate region, northern China. Integr Zool 2020; 16:97-108. [PMID: 32329566 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Masting is an evolutionary strategy used by plants to promote seed survival and/or seed dispersal under animal predation, but its effects on seedling establishment in field condition are rarely tested by long-term experiments incorporating combined effects of seed and animal abundance. Here, we tracked seed production, rodent-mediated seed dispersal, and seedling establishment in Armeniaca sibirica from 2005 to 2014 in a warm-temperate forest in northern China, and examined the effects of seed abundance and per capita seed availability on seed fate and seedling recruitment rate. Our results showed that seed abundance or per capita seed availability generally benefited the seedling recruitment of A. sibirica through increasing dispersal intensity, supporting predator dispersal hypothesis. However, seedling recruitment showed satiated or even dome-shaped association with per capita seed availability, suggesting the benefit to trees would be decreased when seed abundance were too high as compared to rodent abundance (a satiated effect). Our results suggest that the predator dispersal and satiation effects of masting on seedling recruitment can operate together in one system and conditionally change with seed and animal abundance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongmao Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Chuan Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Beijing, China.,State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystem, Institute of Innovation Ecology & College of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Shiqi Wu
- School of Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Junjie Si
- School of Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Xianfeng Yi
- College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China
| | - Hongjun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Beijing, China
| | - Zhibin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Beijing, China
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Mortelliti A, Grentzmann IP, Fraver S, Brehm AM, Calkins S, Fisichelli N. Small mammal controls on the climate‐driven range shift of woody plant species. OIKOS 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.06643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Mortelliti
- Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall Orono ME 04469 USA
| | - Ilona P. Grentzmann
- Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall Orono ME 04469 USA
| | - Shawn Fraver
- School of Forest Resources, Univ. of Maine Orono ME USA
| | - Allison M. Brehm
- Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall Orono ME 04469 USA
| | - Samantha Calkins
- Dept of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall Orono ME 04469 USA
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Brehm AM, Mortelliti A, Maynard GA, Zydlewski J. Land-use change and the ecological consequences of personality in small mammals. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1387-1395. [PMID: 31207017 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Revised: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Many plants rely on animals for seed dispersal, but are all individuals equally effective at dispersing seeds? If not, then the loss of certain individual dispersers from populations could have cascade effects on ecosystems. Despite the importance of seed dispersal for forest ecosystems, variation among individual dispersers and whether land-use change interferes with this process remains untested. Through a large-scale field experiment conducted on small mammal seed dispersers, we show that an individual's personality affects its choice of seeds, as well as how distant and where seeds are cached. We also show that anthropogenic habitat modifications shift the distribution of personalities within a population, by increasing the proportion of bold, active, and anxious individuals and in-turn affecting the potential survival and dispersal of seeds. We demonstrate that preserving diverse personality types within a population is critical for maintaining the key ecosystem function of seed dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison M Brehm
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA
| | - Alessio Mortelliti
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA
| | - George A Maynard
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA
| | - Joseph Zydlewski
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA.,U.S. Geological Survey, Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA
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