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Complementary endozoochorous seed dispersal by large mammals in the Golestan National Park, Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2018

Sorour Karimi ,
Mahmoud-Reza Hemami Open the ORCID record for Mahmoud-Reza Hemami [Opens in a new window] ,
Mostafa Tarkesh Esfahani ,
Hossein Akhani  and
Christophe Baltzinger
Sorour Karimi
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
Mahmoud-Reza Hemami*
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
Mostafa Tarkesh Esfahani
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
Hossein Akhani
Affiliation:
Halophytes and C4 Plants Research Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155-6455, Iran
Christophe Baltzinger
Affiliation:
Irstea, UR EFNO, Domaine des Barres, 45290 Nogent sur Vernisson, France Centre for Invasion Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, 3209, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
*
Author for correspondence: Mahmoud-Reza Hemami, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Large animals tend to disperse seeds over long distances via ingestion and defecation due to their large home range and capacity to move among different habitats for feeding. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of endozoochorous seed dispersal by five herbivores: Ovis vignei, Capra aegagrus, Gazella subgutturosa, Cervus elaphus, Capreolus capreolus and two omnivores: Sus Scrofa and Ursus arctos in the Golestan National Park, northeast of Iran, by a greenhouse germination experiment. A total of 3107 seedlings belonging to 154 different plant taxa were germinated from 655 dung samples collected in three different habitats. Plant families that most frequently germinated were Poaceae and Brassicaceae. Urtica dioica was the most abundant germinating seed, accounting for 20% of all the seedlings recorded in our dung samples, whereas the most frequently observed species was Portulaca oleracea, which occurred in 24% of our samples. We showed that 54% of the seeds germinating were dispersed by only one of the mammals studied. Herbs and graminoids were the most frequently dispersed growth forms by the herbivores and the wild boar, whereas brown bears mostly dispersed shrubs. The seedling composition in the dung samples was strongly correlated with the local flora especially for non-selective feeders, like red deer. The differences observed in the number of plants and frequency of different growth forms dispersed among the studied mammals reflect their body size, digestive physiology, and dietary and habitat preferences. Our findings highlight the different and complementary roles of large herbivores and omnivores as long-distance seed dispersal vectors.

Keywords

endozoochoryHyrcanian forestsIrano-Turanian steppeslarge herbivoreslarge omnivoresseed dispersal
Type
Research Paper
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 294 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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