10.5061/DRYAD.24QP1
Elwood, Elise C.
Purdue University
Lichti, Nathanael I.
Purdue University
Fitzsimmons, Sara F.
Pennsylvania State University
Dalgleish, Harmony J.
College of William & Mary
Data from: Scatterhoarders drive long- and short-term population dynamics
of a nut-producing tree, while pre-dispersal seed predators and herbivores
have little effect
Dryad
dataset
2017
Castanea dentata
matrix model
post-dispersal seed predation
transient analysis
pre-dispersal seed predation
American chestnut
browsers
2017-11-08T20:01:34Z
2017-11-08T20:01:34Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12902
274240 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
1.Both seed predators and herbivores can have profound effects on
individual plant growth, reproduction and survival, but their population
level effects are less well understood. While most plants interact with a
suite of seed predators and herbivores over their life cycle, few studies
incorporate the effects of multiple interacting partners and multiple life
stages on plant population growth. 2.We constructed a matrix model using
six years of data from a rare, seed-producing population of American
chestnut (Castanea dentata). We combined field demographic data with
published experimental results on the effects of pre-dispersal seed
predators (weevils) and post-dispersal seed predators (scatter-hoarding
vertebrates) and incorporated the effect of vertebrate herbivores
estimated from the field data. We explored the impact of these three
different animal interactions for short-term (transient) and long-term
(asymptotic) tree population growth. In addition, we used the model to
explore the conditions under which scatter-hoarding would function as a
mutualism. 3.Seed predators had greater effect on both short- and
long-term population growth than herbivores. Although weevil infestation
can greatly reduce the probability of germination, pre-dispersal seed
predators had smaller effects on both short- or long-term population
growth than post-dispersal predators. The elasticities of weevil-related
parameters were also small. The effect of browsers on both the short- and
long-term population growth rate were the smallest of the effects studied.
Post-dispersal seed predation affected population growth the most of the
interactions studied. The probability of seed removal was amongst the
largest elasticities, similar in magnitude to survival of large trees.
4.Synthesis Our results indicate that neither weevils nor the intensity of
browse damage observed at our study site are likely to hinder tree
regeneration or reintroduction, though both reduced population growth.
Although researchers and forest managers often assume that seeds are
unimportant for long-lived tree populations, our test of this assumption
shows that scatterhoarders and other post-dispersal seed consumers can
significantly limit natural regeneration. Forest management that alters
scatterhoarder behaviour could have significant effects on tree population
dynamics that are largely unexplored.
American chestnut demographic dataCADEdata.csvAmerican chestnut
germination dataCADEgerminationData.csvAmerican chestnut weevil
dataCADEweevilData.csv
Northeast United States