Published in

Wiley, Austral Ecology: A Journal of Ecology in the Southern Hemisphere, p. no-no, 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2010.02200.x

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Implications of movement patterns of a dietary generalist for mistletoe seed dispersal

Journal article published in 2010 by John Rawsthorne, David M. Watson, David A. Roshier ORCID
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

Full text: Unavailable

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Mistletoes are dispersed primarily by frugivorous birds and have highly aggregated distributions at multiple scales. Mistletoe specialist frugivores have been found to intensify infections within infected hosts and stands, and this is considered the most likely mechanism underlying clumped mistletoe distributions at these scales. How these patchy infections first develop and whether seed dispersers also contribute to aggregated mistletoe distributions at landscape and regional scales have not been evaluated. Here we predict the mistletoe seed shadow of a dietary generalist (spiny-cheeked honeyeater Acanthagenys rufogularis Aves: Meliphagidae), by combining our observations of movements via radio telemetry with previous data on gut passage times to estimate seed dispersal curves for individual birds. There was considerable variation in movements and inferred seed dispersal between individuals, with non-breeding birds predicted to regularly transport Amyema quandang (Santalales: Loranthaceae) seeds up to 700 m; well beyond the boundaries of an existing mistletoe infection. As the first work to consider explicitly the distance component of mistletoe seed dispersal by dietary generalists, this study poses further questions about the relative seed dispersal roles of dietary generalists and mistletoe specialists. Moreover, our findings highlight considerable intraspecific variation in movement and foraging behaviour, suggesting gender and reproductive status of birds should be considered explicitly when quantifying seed dispersal services.