Authors: Javier RodríguezPérez Kerstin Wiegand David Ward
Publish Date: 2011/03/27
Volume: 167, Issue: 1, Pages: 97-105
Abstract
Integrative studies of plant–animal interactions that incorporate the multiple effects of interactions are important for discerning the importance of each factor within the population dynamics of a plant species The low regeneration capacity of many Acacia species in arid savannas is a consequence of a combination of reduction in seed dispersal and high seed predation Here we studied how ungulates acting as both seed dispersers and herbivores and bruchid beetles postdispersal seed predators modulate the population dynamics of A raddiana a keystone species in the Middle East We developed two simulation models of plant demography the first included seed ingestion by ungulates and seed predation by bruchids whereas the second model additionally incorporated herbivory by ungulates We also included the interacting effects of seed removal and body mass because larger ungulates destroy proportionally fewer seeds and enhance seed germination Simulations showed that the negative effect of seed predation on acacia population size was compensated for by the positive effect of seed ingestion at 50 and 30 seed removal under scenarios with and without herbivory respectively Smaller ungulates eg 35 kg must necessarily remove tenfold more seeds than larger ungulates eg 250 kg to compensate for the negative effect of seed predation Seedling proportion increased with seed removal in the model with herbivory Managing and restoring acacia seed dispersers is key to conserving acacia populations because lowtomedium seed removal could quickly restore their regeneration capacityWe are grateful to Christoph Rohner for helping to develop the early idea for the present project and to Luis Santamaría and two anonymous referees for their useful comments that greatly improved the early version of the manuscript The work was supported by the FriedrichSchiller University of Jena Germany and by the JENAMACE project Jena Initiative of Applying Molecular Techniques for the Analysis of Variations of Ecological Processes in Space funded by the EU ToK initiative
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