Great cormorants reveal overlooked secondary dispersal of plants and invertebrates by piscivorous waterbirds.

ABSTRACT: In wetland ecosystems, birds and fish are important dispersal vectors for plants and invertebrates, but the consequences of their interactions as vectors are unknown. Darwin suggested that piscivorous birds carry out secondary dispersal of seeds and invertebrates via predation on fish. We tested this hypothesis in the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo L.). Cormorants regurgitate pellets daily, which we collected at seven European locations and examined for intact propagules. One-third of pellets contained at least one intact plant seed, with seeds from 16 families covering a broad range of freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats. Of 21 plant species, only two have an endozoochory dispersal syndrome, compared with five for water and eight for unassisted dispersal syndromes. On

SUBMITTER: van Leeuwen CHA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5665770 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature