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Bliege Bird R, Bird DW, Martine CT, McGuire C, Greenwood L, Taylor D, Williams TM, Veth PM. Seed dispersal by Martu peoples promotes the distribution of native plants in arid Australia. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6019. [PMID: 39019861 PMCID: PMC11255322 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50300-5] [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] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Commensal relationships between wild plants and their dispersers play a key ecological and evolutionary role in community structure and function. While non-human dispersers are often considered critical to plant recruitment, human dispersers have received much less attention, especially when it comes to non-domesticated plants. Australia, as a continent historically characterized by economies reliant on non-domesticated plants, is thus a key system for exploring the ecological role of people as seed dispersers in the absence of agriculture. Here, we utilize a controlled observation research design, employing ecological surveys and ethnographic observations to examine how seed dispersal and landscape burning by Martu Aboriginal people affects the distribution of three preferred plants and one (edible, but non-preferred) control species. Using an information theoretic approach, we find that the three preferred plants show evidence of human dispersal, with the strongest evidence supporting anthropogenic dispersal for the wild bush tomato, Solanum diversiflorum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Bliege Bird
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
| | - Douglas W Bird
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | | | - Chloe McGuire
- Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, Bendigo, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Desmond Taylor
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | | | - Peter M Veth
- School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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Walsh F, Bidu GK, Bidu NK, Evans TA, Judson TM, Kendrick P, Moore D, Nelson M, Oldham C, Schofield J, Sparrow A, Taylor MK, Taylor DP, Williams CM. Reply to: Australian fairy circles and termite linyji are not caused by the same mechanism. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:206-208. [PMID: 38168940 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02231-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Fiona Walsh
- Fiona Walsh Ecology, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
- School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
| | | | | | - Theodore A Evans
- School of Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | | | - Peter Kendrick
- Biota Environmental Sciences, Leederville, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Danae Moore
- Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
| | - Matilda Nelson
- School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Carolyn Oldham
- School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Josef Schofield
- Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
| | - Ashley Sparrow
- Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
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Getzin S, Yizhaq H, Muñoz-Rojas M, Erickson TE. Australian fairy circles and termite linyji are not caused by the same mechanism. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:203-205. [PMID: 38168939 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02225-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Getzin
- University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.
- Gobabeb Namib Research Institute, Walvis Bay, Namibia.
| | - Hezi Yizhaq
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer, Israel
| | - Miriam Muñoz-Rojas
- Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Todd E Erickson
- Centre for Engineering Innovation: Agriculture and Ecological Restoration, School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- Kings Park Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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Guirado E, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Benito BM, Molina-Pardo JL, Berdugo M, Martínez-Valderrama J, Maestre FT. The global biogeography and environmental drivers of fairy circles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2304032120. [PMID: 37748063 PMCID: PMC10556617 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2304032120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Fairy circles (FCs) are regular vegetation patterns found in drylands of Namibia and Western Australia. It is virtually unknown whether they are also present in other regions of the world and which environmental factors determine their distribution. We conducted a global systematic survey and found FC-like vegetation patterns in 263 sites from 15 countries and three continents, including the Sahel, Madagascar, and Middle-West Asia. FC-like vegetation patterns are found in environments characterized by a unique combination of soil (including low nutrient levels and high sand content) and climatic (arid regions with high temperatures and high precipitation seasonality) conditions. In addition to these factors, the presence of specific biological elements (termite nests) in certain regions also plays a role in the presence of these patterns. Furthermore, areas with FC-like vegetation patterns also showed more stable temporal productivity patterns than those of surrounding areas. Our study presents a global atlas of FCs and provides unique insights into the ecology and biogeography of these fascinating vegetation patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Guirado
- Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio ‘Ramón Margalef’, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante03690, Spain
| | - Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Laboratorio de Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla41012, Spain
| | - Blas M. Benito
- Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio ‘Ramón Margalef’, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante03690, Spain
| | | | - Miguel Berdugo
- Crowther Lab, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH-Zürich, Zürich8092, Switzerland
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid28040, Spain
| | - Jaime Martínez-Valderrama
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Almería04120, Spain
| | - Fernando T. Maestre
- Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio ‘Ramón Margalef’, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante03690, Spain
- Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante03690, Spain
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