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Predicting spatial patterns of plant recruitment using animal-displacement kernels.

ABSTRACT: For plants dispersed by frugivores, spatial patterns of recruitment are primarily influenced by the spatial arrangement and characteristics of parent plants, the digestive characteristics, feeding behaviour and movement patterns of animal dispersers, and the structure of the habitat matrix. We used an individual-based, spatially-explicit framework to characterize seed dispersal and seedling fate in an endangered, insular plant-disperser system: the endemic shrub Daphne rodriguezii and its exclusive disperser, the endemic lizard Podarcis lilfordi. Plant recruitment kernels were chiefly determined by the disperser's patterns of space utilization (i.e. the lizard's displacement kernels), the position of the various plant individuals in relation to them, and habitat structure (vegetation cover vs. bare soil). In contrast to our expectations, seed gut-passage rate and its effects on germination, and lizard speed-of-movement, habitat choice and activity rhythm were of minor importance. Predicted plant recruitment kernels were strongly anisotropic and fine-grained, preventing their description using one-dimensional, frequency-distance curves. We found a general trade-off between recruitment probability and dispersal distance; however, optimal recruitment sites were not necessarily associated to sites of maximal adult-plant density. Conservation efforts aimed at enhancing the regeneration of endangered plant-disperser systems may gain in efficacy by manipulating the spatial distribution of dispersers (e.g. through the creation of refuges and feeding sites) to create areas favourable to plant recruitment.

SUBMITTER: Santamaria L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1999654 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Predicting spatial patterns of plant recruitment using animal-displacement kernels.

Santamaría Luis L Rodríguez-Pérez Javier J Larrinaga Asier R AR Pias Beatriz B

PloS one 20071010 10

For plants dispersed by frugivores, spatial patterns of recruitment are primarily influenced by the spatial arrangement and characteristics of parent plants, the digestive characteristics, feeding behaviour and movement patterns of animal dispersers, and the structure of the habitat matrix. We used an individual-based, spatially-explicit framework to characterize seed dispersal and seedling fate in an endangered, insular plant-disperser system: the endemic shrub Daphne rodriguezii and its exclus ...[more]

PMID: 17925856

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Project description:AimThe evolutionary forces that gave rise to the exceptional plant species richness of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) have also likely played a role at the intraspecific level (i.e. plant populations)-and thereby generating shared phylogeographic patterns among taxa. Here we test whether plant populations in the CFR exhibit phylogeographic breaks across the boundaries between Centres of Endemism (CoEs). The boundaries between CoEs (derived from the distribution ranges of endemic taxa and currently mapped at a coarse, Quarter Degree Square scale) represent a spatial proxy for the evolutionary diversifying drivers acting on plant taxa in the CFR.LocationThe CFR, located along the southern Cape of South Africa.MethodsPublished phylogeographic literature were compiled and spatial patterns of genetic divergence re-analysed to assess the frequency at which CFR plant taxa exhibit phylogeographic breaks either (1) across or (2) within CoE boundaries. Population pairs from each study were compared across and within CoEs and scored as either exhibiting a phylogeographic break or not.ResultsPhylogeographic breaks in Cape plants were found to occur across the boundaries of CoEs more often than not. Significantly more population pairs exhibited phylogeographic breaks across CoE boundaries (506 of the 540, χ2 = 886, p < 0.001) and fewer breaks within CoEs (94 of 619, χ2 = 300, p < 0.001) than would be expected if there was equal probability of a genetic break occurring across CoE boundaries.Main conclusionsThe evolutionary forces that have produced and maintained the exceptional plant diversity in the CFR appear to have operated at the population level, producing similar patterns of phylogeographic structuring of plant lineages regardless of life history or taxonomy. This tendency for Cape plants to exhibit shared patterns of spatially structured genetic diversity that match the distribution of endemic taxa may assist CFR phylogeographers to streamline sampling efforts and test novel hypotheses pertaining to the distribution of genetic diversity among CFR plant taxa. Additionally, the resolution at which CoEs are mapped should be refined, which may provide a valuable tool for future conservation planning and the development of precautionary guidelines for the translocation of genetic material during species reintroductions and commercial cultivation of Cape endemic crops. Thus, to answer the question 'Do Centres of Endemism provide a spatial context for predicting and preserving plant phylogeographic patterns in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa?'-yes, CoEs do appear to be an important tool for Cape phylogeographers. However, the data is limited and more plant phylogeography work is needed in the CFR.

Dataset Information

Predicting spatial patterns of plant recruitment using animal-displacement kernels.

Publications

Predicting spatial patterns of plant recruitment using animal-displacement kernels.

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