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The role of the brown bear Ursus arctos as a legitimate megafaunal seed disperser.

ABSTRACT: Megafaunal frugivores can consume large amounts of fruits whose seeds may be dispersed over long distances, thus, affecting plant regeneration processes and ecosystem functioning. We investigated the role of brown bears (Ursus arctos) as legitimate megafaunal seed dispersers. We assessed the quantity component of seed dispersal by brown bears across its entire distribution based on information about both the relative frequency of occurrence and species composition of fleshy fruits in the diet of brown bears extracted from the literature. We assessed the quality component of seed dispersal based on germination experiments for 11 fleshy-fruited plant species common in temperate and boreal regions and frequently eaten by brown bears. Across its distribution, fleshy fruits, on average, represented 24% of the bear food items and 26% of the total volume consumed. Brown bears consumed seeds from at least 101 fleshy-fruited plant species belonging to 24 families and 42 genera, of which Rubus (Rosaceae) and Vaccinium (Ericaceae) were most commonly eaten. Brown bears inhabiting Mediterranean forests relied the most on fleshy fruits and consumed the largest number of species per study area. Seeds ingested by bears germinated at higher percentages than those from whole fruits, and at similar percentages than manually depulped seeds. We conclude that brown bears are legitimate seed dispersers as they consume large quantities of seeds that remain viable after gut passage. The decline of these megafaunal frugivores may compromise seed dispersal services and plant regeneration processes.

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Rodriguez A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7809135 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The role of the brown bear Ursus arctos as a legitimate megafaunal seed disperser.

García-Rodríguez Alberto A Albrecht Jörg J Szczutkowska Sylwia S Valido Alfredo A Farwig Nina N Selva Nuria N

Scientific reports 20210114 1

Megafaunal frugivores can consume large amounts of fruits whose seeds may be dispersed over long distances, thus, affecting plant regeneration processes and ecosystem functioning. We investigated the role of brown bears (Ursus arctos) as legitimate megafaunal seed dispersers. We assessed the quantity component of seed dispersal by brown bears across its entire distribution based on information about both the relative frequency of occurrence and species composition of fleshy fruits in the diet of ...[more]

PMID: 33446727

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Project description:Wild animal populations experience selection pressures from both natural and anthropogenic sources. The availability of extensive pedigrees is increasing along with our ability to quantify the heritability and evolvability of phenotypic traits and thus the speed and potential for evolutionary change in wild populations. The environment may also affect gene expressions in individuals, which may in turn affect the potential of phenotypic traits to respond to selection. Knowledge about the relationship between the genetic and environmental components of phenotypic variation is particularly relevant, given ongoing anthropogenically driven global change. Using a quantitative genetic mixed model, we disentangled the genetic and environmental components of phenotypic variance in a large carnivore, the brown bear (Ursus arctos). We combined a pedigree covering ~1,500 individual bears over seven generations with location data from 413 bears, as well as data on bear density, habitat characteristics, and climatic conditions. We found a narrow-sense heritability of 0.24 (95% CrI: 0.06-0.38) for brown bear head size, showing that the trait can respond to selection at a moderate speed. The environment contributed substantially to phenotypic variation, and we partitioned this into birth year (5.9%), nonadditive among-individual genetic (15.0%), and residual (50.4%) environmental effects. Brown bear head circumference showed an evolvability of 0.2%, which can generate large changes in the trait mean over some hundreds of generations. Our study is among the first to quantify heritability of a trait in a hunted large carnivore population. Such knowledge about the degree to which species experiencing hunting can respond to selection is crucial for conservation and to make informed management decisions. We show that including important environmental variables when analyzing heritability is key to understanding the dynamics of the evolutionary potential of phenotypic traits.

Dataset Information

The role of the brown bear Ursus arctos as a legitimate megafaunal seed disperser.

Publications

The role of the brown bear Ursus arctos as a legitimate megafaunal seed disperser.

Similar Datasets

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