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Plant migration rates and seed dispersal mechanisms
Author(s) -
Pakeman
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1365-2699
pISSN - 0305-0270
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00581.x
Subject(s) - biological dispersal , herbivore , seed dispersal syndrome , ecology , seed dispersal , grassland , biology , herbaceous plant , frugivore , habitat , population , demography , sociology
Aim Holocene plant migration rates appear to greatly exceed measured dispersal distances. This is a feature of species with all dispersal mechanisms and in all communities. The role of dispersal by large mammalian herbivores is explored as a mechanism that accounts for the observed dispersal rates. Methods A simple model was constructed that took into account herbivore dispersal and how migration rates might vary with herbivore territory size, gut survival and probability of consumption. Results Even at relatively low probabilities of consumption and gut survival, dispersal by animals within large territories could account for observed rates of dispersal in the palaeorecord. Animals with small territory sizes could not produce large enough rates of dispersal. Main conclusions As many modern day grassland plants appear to survive gut passage, endozoochory by large mammalian herbivores could be the main mechanism for long‐distance dispersal of herbaceous species.