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Zhang Z, Shi X, Li R, Qiang S. A new technique for stain-marking of seeds with safranine to track seed dispersal and seed bank dynamics. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:959046. [PMID: 36003822 PMCID: PMC9393530 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.959046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Accurate tracking of seed dispersal is critical for understanding gene flow and seed bank dynamics, and for predicting population distributions and spread. Available seed-tracking techniques are limited due to environmental and safety issues or requirements for expensive and specialized equipment. Furthermore, few techniques can be applied to studies of water-dispersed seeds. Here we introduce a new seed-tracking method using safranine to stain seeds/fruits by immersing in (ex situ) or spraying with (in situ) staining solution. The hue difference value between pre- and post-stained seeds/fruits was compared using the HSV color model to assess the effect of staining. A total of 181 kinds of seeds/fruits out of 233 tested species of farmland weeds, invasive alien herbaceous plants and trees could be effectively stained magenta to red in hue (320-360°) from generally yellowish appearance (30-70°), in which the other 39 ineffectively-stained species were distinguishable by the naked eye from pre-stained seeds. The most effectively stained seeds/fruits were those with fluffy pericarps, episperm, or appendages. Safranine staining was not found to affect seed weight or germination ability regardless of whether seeds were stained ex situ or in situ. For 44 of 48 buried species, the magenta color of stained seeds clearly remained recognizable for more than 5 months after seeds were buried in soil. Tracking experiments using four species (Beckmannia syzigachne, Oryza sativa f. spontanea, Solidago Canadensis, and Acer buergerianum), representing two noxious agricultural weeds, an alien invasive plant, and a tree, respectively, showed that the safranine staining technique can be widely applied for studying plant seed dispersal. Identifying and counting the stained seeds/fruits can be executed by specially complied Python-based program, based on OpenCV library for image processing and Numpy for data handling. From the above results, we conclude that staining with safranine is a cheap, reliable, easily recognized, automatically counted, persistent, environmentally safe, and user-friendly tracking-seed method. This technique may be widely applied to staining most of the seed plant species and the study of seed dispersal in arable land and in disturbed and natural terrestrial or hydrophytic ecological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Zhang
- Weed Research Laboratory, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xinglei Shi
- Weed Research Laboratory, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ruhai Li
- Weed Research Laboratory, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Institute of Plant Protection and Soil Fertilizer, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Sheng Qiang
- Weed Research Laboratory, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
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Differences in mutualistic or predatory interactions between tree and rodent species as revealed by using a double-duplex passive integrated transponder tagging technique. ACTA OECOLOGICA 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2021.103747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Wang M, Yi S, Ju M, Yi X. Tracking Animal-Dispersed Seedlings Using 15N Xylem Injection Method. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:582530. [PMID: 33995426 PMCID: PMC8120291 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.582530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Although various seed-marking methods have been developed for seed dispersal, it remains difficult to track the actual patterns of seed dispersal and seedling recruitment. Thus, new labeling methods that accurately track seedling establishment along with seed movement would help us better understand seed dispersal. Here, we developed a new nondestructive method using 15N xylem injection to track seed dispersal and seedling recruitment based on the enriched isotopic signals in the mature seeds. Our results first showed that xylem injection of 15N successfully enriched 15N both in the acorns and seedlings of Quercus variabilis. By marking acorns and seedlings with 15N stable isotopes, we successfully tracked seedlings established from acorns dispersed by seed-eating animals in the field. Our xylem 15N injection caused little alteration to seeds and showed no significant effects on seed selection by seed-eating animals as well as seed germination and seedling establishment, verifying the validity of the 15N xylem injection method to track seedling establishment. Our xylem 15N injection method is expected to be a powerful tool for tracking seed dispersal and seedling recruitment mediated by seed-eating animals in seed dispersal ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minghui Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China
| | - Sijie Yi
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Mengyao Ju
- College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China
| | - Xianfeng Yi
- College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafał Zwolak
- Department of Systematic Zoology Faculty of Biology Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań Poland
| | - Andrew Sih
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy University of California at Davis Davis CA USA
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Greenler SM, Estrada LA, Kellner KF, Saunders MR, Swihart RK. Prescribed fire and partial overstory removal alter an acorn-rodent conditional mutualism. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2019; 29:e01958. [PMID: 31240798 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 05/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In eastern North America, oak (Quercus) regeneration failure has spurred management using silvicultural approaches better aligned with the autecology of oaks. In particular, shelterwood harvests can create favorable intermediate light conditions for oak establishment and prescribed fire is predicted (by the oak-fire hypothesis) to favor oak regeneration. These approaches substantially modify forest structure and may affect crucial trophic interactions including the conditional mutualism between oaks and granivorous rodents that scatterhoard acorns, which shifts along a continuum from antagonistic to mutualistic depending on external factors. We investigated how overwinter survival and dispersal of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) acorns were influenced by location within or outside of group shelterwood harvests (small canopy gaps created throughout an intact forest stand) with and without prescribed fire. We conducted two concurrent experiments to test (1) dispersal and survival of acorns presented on the forest floor and (2) acorn pilferage rates from caches that mimic squirrel scatterhoards in shelterwood gap/group interiors, edges, and the uncut forest matrix in burned and unburned forest stands. In both experiments, acorn survival was generally higher in burned than unburned stands. Acorn survival from forest floor presentations was higher in the unharvested forest matrix than harvest gap interiors; however, there was no effect of proximity to harvest gaps on survival of cached acorns. Survival of cached acorns was associated with understory vegetative cover (-), coarse woody debris cover (-), and distance to nearest tree (+), but uncorrelated with canopy cover above the cache. Our results suggest that reduced understory cover following prescribed fire may increase perceived habitat riskiness for granivores resulting in higher acorn survival up to 2 yr post-fire. These findings unify the oak-fire and oak-granivore conditional mutualism hypotheses, and suggest that the environmental conditions following prescribed fire and group shelterwood harvests may shift the oak-granivore conditional mutualism in a direction beneficial for oak regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Skye M Greenler
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Laura A Estrada
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Kenneth F Kellner
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Michael R Saunders
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Robert K Swihart
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
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Rogers HS, Beckman NG, Hartig F, Johnson JS, Pufal G, Shea K, Zurell D, Bullock JM, Cantrell RS, Loiselle B, Pejchar L, Razafindratsima OH, Sandor ME, Schupp EW, Strickland WC, Zambrano J. The total dispersal kernel: a review and future directions. AOB PLANTS 2019; 11:plz042. [PMID: 31579119 PMCID: PMC6757349 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plz042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The distribution and abundance of plants across the world depends in part on their ability to move, which is commonly characterized by a dispersal kernel. For seeds, the total dispersal kernel (TDK) describes the combined influence of all primary, secondary and higher-order dispersal vectors on the overall dispersal kernel for a plant individual, population, species or community. Understanding the role of each vector within the TDK, and their combined influence on the TDK, is critically important for being able to predict plant responses to a changing biotic or abiotic environment. In addition, fully characterizing the TDK by including all vectors may affect predictions of population spread. Here, we review existing research on the TDK and discuss advances in empirical, conceptual modelling and statistical approaches that will facilitate broader application. The concept is simple, but few examples of well-characterized TDKs exist. We find that significant empirical challenges exist, as many studies do not account for all dispersal vectors (e.g. gravity, higher-order dispersal vectors), inadequately measure or estimate long-distance dispersal resulting from multiple vectors and/or neglect spatial heterogeneity and context dependence. Existing mathematical and conceptual modelling approaches and statistical methods allow fitting individual dispersal kernels and combining them to form a TDK; these will perform best if robust prior information is available. We recommend a modelling cycle to parameterize TDKs, where empirical data inform models, which in turn inform additional data collection. Finally, we recommend that the TDK concept be extended to account for not only where seeds land, but also how that location affects the likelihood of establishing and producing a reproductive adult, i.e. the total effective dispersal kernel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haldre S Rogers
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
- Corresponding author’s e-mail address:
| | - Noelle G Beckman
- Department of Biology and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Florian Hartig
- Theoretical Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jeremy S Johnson
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Gesine Pufal
- Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Katriona Shea
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Damaris Zurell
- Geography Department, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Dynamic Macroecology, Department of Landscape Dynamics, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - James M Bullock
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Benson Lane, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | | | - Bette Loiselle
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation & Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Liba Pejchar
- Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | | | - Manette E Sandor
- School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Eugene W Schupp
- Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - W Christopher Strickland
- Department of Mathematics and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Jenny Zambrano
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman WA, USA
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Kempter I, Nopp-Mayr U, Hausleithner C, Gratzer G. Tricky to track: comparing different tagging methods for tracing beechnut dispersal by small mammals. Ecol Res 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s11284-018-1640-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Adams ER, Ammerman LK. A Serpentine Antenna Configuration for Passive Integrated Transponder Tag Readers Used at Bat Roosts. SOUTHWEST NAT 2015. [DOI: 10.1894/0038-4909-60.4.393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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9
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Perea R, Dirzo R, San Miguel A, Gil L. Post-dispersal seed recovery by animals: is it a plant- or an animal-driven process? OIKOS 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.02556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ramón Perea
- Dept of Natural Systems and Resources; Univ. Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria; ES-28040 Madrid Spain
- Dept of Biology; Stanford University; Stanford CA 94305 USA
| | - Rodolfo Dirzo
- Dept of Biology; Stanford University; Stanford CA 94305 USA
| | - Alfonso San Miguel
- Dept of Natural Systems and Resources; Univ. Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria; ES-28040 Madrid Spain
| | - Luis Gil
- Dept of Natural Systems and Resources; Univ. Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria; ES-28040 Madrid Spain
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Tracking animal-mediated seedling establishment from dispersed acorns with the aid of the attached cotyledons. MAMMAL RES 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s13364-015-0214-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Murphy M, Howard K, Hardy GESJ, Dell B. When losing your nuts increases your reproductive success: sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) nut caching by the woylie (Bettongia penicillata). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1071/pc14924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
To regenerate sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) stands in south-western Australia it is necessary to understand the complex relationship between woylies (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi) and sandalwood. Sandalwood requires a seed disperser for successful recruitment and in the past the critically endangered woylie played an important role in dispersing and caching seeds, but it is not clear whether this mutualistic and antagonistic relationship is beneficial to regeneration efforts. An enclosure in a woodland and 46Scandium-labelled seeds, enabled study of the in situ predation of seeds, caching, the fate of cached seeds, the detection of cached seeds and predation of germinated seeds. Woylies preferentially cached sandalwood, then S. acuminatum seeds, before any interest was shown in Acacia acuminata and Gastrolobium microcarpum seeds, which were virtually all eaten in situ. Of a further 500 radiolabelled and individually numbered sandalwood seeds deployed, 42.2% were eaten in situ, 20.8% had an unknown fate and 37% were cached, with some seeds being recached up to four times. After nine months, only four cached seeds remained undisturbed. Olfaction appeared to be the primary method of cache detection. To examine the recruitment rate of cached seeds, the fate of 89 transplanted sandalwood seedlings at two study sites was followed. After one month 38% were intact and growing, but half of the transplanted seedlings were dug up and the remaining endosperm was eaten in situ or taken away. The results highlight the potential of providing seed supplies, including sandalwood seeds and seeds of their hosts, to seed-dispersal marsupials for passive ecosystem repair.
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Suselbeek L, Adamczyk VM, Bongers F, Nolet BA, Prins HH, van Wieren SE, Jansen PA. Scatter hoarding and cache pilferage by superior competitors: an experiment with wild boar, Sus scrofa. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Wang B, Chen J, Corlett RT. Factors influencing repeated seed movements by scatter-hoarding rodents in an alpine forest. Sci Rep 2014; 4:4786. [PMID: 24759374 PMCID: PMC3998018 DOI: 10.1038/srep04786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2013] [Accepted: 04/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Scatter-hoarding rodents are effective dispersal agents for many plant species. Several studies have shown that rodents repeatedly re-cache seeds. The re-caching process often has a significant impact on final seedling establishment, but the factors determining its occurrence are poorly understood. In this study, we followed the fate of 3564 artificial seeds that varied in size, nutrient content and tannin content. Seeds cached closer to their original releasing plots were more likely to be re-cached, and to a further distance. Larger seeds were more likely to be re-cached than smaller ones, while nutrient and tannin content had little effect. Most plant species that depend on scatter-hoarding rodents for seed dispersal bear relatively large seeds, and large seeds are usually more likely to be dispersed and to establish seedlings, suggesting that the caching preferences of scatter-hoarding rodents may have played an important role in the evolution of large seeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Wang
- Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Jin Chen
- Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Richard T Corlett
- Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Ousterhout BH, Semlitsch RD. Measuring terrestrial movement behavior using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags: effects of tag size on detection, movement, survival, and growth. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1656-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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