Passage time of seeds through the guts of frugivorous birds, a first assessment in Brazil
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Data
2012-03-01
Autores
Gasperin, Gabriel
Pizo, Marco Aurelio [UNESP]
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Editor
Soc Brasileira Ornitologia
Resumo
Passage time of seeds through the guts of frugivorous birds, a first assessment in Brazil. The transit time of seeds ingested by frugivorous animals has important implications for the spatial distribution of seeds and their dispersal distance. Nevertheless, this parameter is rarely included in seed dispersal studies. In this paper, we provide information about the transit time of seeds of nine species of plants ingested by individuals of six species of captive birds (Turdus albicollis, T. amaurochalinus, T. leucomelas, T. rufiventris, Stephanophorus diadematus and Saltator similis). We found that (1) seeds are regurgitated quickly through the digestive tract of birds than defecated seeds, and (2) large seeds (e. g., > 5 mm in diameter for Turdus spp.) are regurgitated rather than defecated. These results corroborate other studies, but the relationship between seed size and transit time seems to be quite complex and variable, requiring more detailed studies on this important aspect of the ecology of seed dispersal and digestive physiology of frugivorous birds.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
frugivory, GPT, seed dispersal, seed size, Turdidae
Como citar
Revista Brasileira De Ornitologia. Vicosa: Soc Brasileira Ornitologia, v. 20, n. 1, p. 48-51, 2012.