کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
4381519 1304077 2008 8 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Variation in seed dispersal along an elevational gradient in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علوم کشاورزی و بیولوژیک بوم شناسی، تکامل، رفتار و سامانه شناسی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Variation in seed dispersal along an elevational gradient in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
چکیده انگلیسی

Seed dispersal by ants is ecologically important and geographically widespread as 20–50% of all herbaceous species in eastern deciduous forests are dispersed by ants, but we know little about how or why such interactions vary geographically. In this paper, we examined variation in seed dispersal by ants along an extensive elevational gradient (256–2025 m) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Specifically, we asked whether variation in ant community composition affected seed removals and seed dispersal distance of Trillium undulatum and Hexastylis arifolia, two common understory herbs found throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains. We also examined variation in myrmecochore abundance, specifically Trillium spp. and H. arifolia, along the same elevational gradient. Measures of ant community and climate variables strongly covaried with elevation, while Trillium species richness and abundance did not. We found that seed removals decreased with elevation, but seed dispersal distance did not depend on elevation. The most important variables predicting seed removals were average annual temperature and the abundance of Aphaenogaster rudis, both of which varied along the elevational gradient. Seed dispersal by ants did not depend on ant community composition, but was dominated by one species, A. rudis, which occurred at every site and removed the vast majority of all observed seeds in this study. Though the ant fauna in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is diverse, dispersal of T. undulatum and H. arifolia, and likely other myrmecochores, is driven by one ant species, A. rudis.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Acta Oecologica - Volume 34, Issue 2, September–October 2008, Pages 155–162
نویسندگان
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