Diet complementation as a frequency-dependent mechanism conferring advantages to rare plants via dispersal
Authored by Teresa Moran-Lopez, Tomas A Carlo, Guillermo Amico, Morales Juan Manuel
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13152
Sponsors:
CONICET
United States National Science Foundation (NSF)
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Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
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Abstract
1. We used an agent-based model to test the hypothesis that diet
complementation by frugivores can promote the persistence of rare plant
species in communities (DCH).
2. Models simulated bird movement, frugivory, seed dispersal and plant
recruitment on landscapes that differed in their degree of fragmentation
and in their degree of fruiting species mixing at the scale of
frugivores' foraging decisions.
3. Diet complementation promoted the dispersal of rare species without
the need of a priori preference from birds. The effects of landscape
structure on the dispersal of rare plants were small (<5\%) compared to
positive effects of diet complementation because birds tracked the
nutrients contained in rare fruits to balance their diets. However,
resource-tracking of rare fruits increased foraging costs up to 20\% of
net energy intakes.
4. During postdispersal stages, density-dependent mortality only
conferred advantages to rare plants when located within heterospecific
plant patches. Still, thanks to rare-biased dispersal, rare plants
showed the highest seed dispersal effectiveness irrespectively of
landscape configuration.
5. Our theoretical approach presents a behavioural mechanism by which
fruit choice can act as a frequency-dependent mechanism conferring rare
species advantages as important as classic postdispersal
density-dependent processes.
6. We hope that this study stimulates future work aimed at evaluating
the importance of diet complementation in structuring the composition
and spatial patterning of plant communities.
Tags
geometry
Seed dispersal
Rarity
birds
Density
Determinants
Forest
Predictions
Metabolic-rate
Functional traits
Frugivory
Advantage of the rare
Diet complementation
Negative
frequency-dependent
Fleshy fruits