Seeds in the guts: can seed traits explain seed survival after being digested by wild ungulates?
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F24%3A10485348" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/24:10485348 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=VFt-tuq1mX" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=VFt-tuq1mX</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-024-05538-7" target="_blank" >10.1007/s00442-024-05538-7</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Seeds in the guts: can seed traits explain seed survival after being digested by wild ungulates?
Original language description
Plants inhabiting open landscapes are often dispersed by ungulates and are expected to be adapted to this type of dispersal through their seed traits. To find which traits help seeds survive the passage through digestion of wild ungulates, we conducted a comprehensive feeding experiment with almost forty species of plants and three species of ungulates. We fed specified numbers of seeds to the animals, collected the dung, and germinated the dung content. We explored whether seed morphological traits and seed nutrient contents are good predictors of seed survival after passage through the ungulate digestive system. We also tested how the seed survival differed after the passage through different ungulate species. To find answers, we used GLMM with beta-binomial distribution and animal and plant species as random factor, respectively. We found that species survival and germination success were negatively correlated to seed elongation and the thickness of the seed coat. Even though phylogenetically correct GLMM did not yield significant results, when we tested species from commonly represented families, separately (legumes and grasses compared to all other species) different traits had statistically significant effects. In the case of seed elongation, the effect changed direction from negative to positive when legumes and grasses were left out. Our results suggest that seed traits enabling species survival after passage through the digestive tract are strongly phylogenetically conserved and different groups of plants evolved different ways of adapting to grazing pressure and utilize it for dispersal.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10611 - Plant sciences, botany
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach<br>I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2024
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Oecologia
ISSN
0029-8549
e-ISSN
1432-1939
Volume of the periodical
205
Issue of the periodical within the volume
1
Country of publishing house
DE - GERMANY
Number of pages
10
Pages from-to
49-58
UT code for WoS article
001208201500001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85191303376