Functional Traits Drive Dispersal Interactions Between European Waterfowl and Seeds.

ABSTRACT: Endozoochory by waterfowl is important for a broad range of angiosperms, most of which lack a fleshy fruit. This dispersal function contributes to the formation and maintenance of plant communities and may allow range shifts for plant species under global change. However, our current understanding of what seed or plant traits are important for this dispersal mechanism, and how they relate to variation in waterbird traits, is extremely limited. We addressed this question using a unique dataset identifying the plant species whose seeds are ingested by 31 different waterfowl species in Europe. We used RLQ and fourth-corner analyses to explore relationships between (1) bird morphological and foraging strategy traits, and (2) plant traits related to seed morphology, environmental preferences, a

SUBMITTER: Almeida BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8843038 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature