ArticleAnnals of botany2021
Seeds and seedlings of oaks suffer from mammals and molluscs close to phylogenetically isolated, old adults.
Article in Annals of botany, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Offspring may succeed well next to their relatives, but it needs particular traits.Annals of botany · 2025Article
- Seed and seedling predation by vertebrates mediates the effects of adult trees in two temperate tree species.Oecologia · 2022Article
- What Drives Caterpillar Guilds on a Tree: Enemy Pressure, Leaf or Tree Growth, Genetic Traits, or Phylogenetic Neighbourhood?Insects · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsMammals and molluscs (MaM) are abundant herbivores of tree seeds and seedlings, but how the trees and their environment affect MaM herbivory has been little studied. MaM tend to move much larger distances during the feeding stage than the more frequently studied insect herbivores. We hypothesize that MaM (1) select and stay within the patches that promise to be relatively the richest in seeds and seedlings, i.e. patches around adult trees that are old and within a distantly related, less productive neighborhood; and (2) try to remain sheltered from predators while foraging, i.e. mammals remain close to adult trees or to cover by herbs while foraging, and might force their mollusc prey to show the opposite distribution.
methodsWe exposed oak acorns and seedlings in a temperate forest along transects from adult conspecifics in different neighbourhoods. We followed acorn removal and leaf herbivory. We used exclusion experiments to separate acorn removal by ungulates vs. rodents and leaf herbivory by insects vs. molluscs. We measured the size of the closest conspecific adult tree, its phylogenetic isolation from the neighbourhood and the herbaceous ground cover. KEY
resultsConsistent with our hypothesis, rodents removed seeds around adult trees surrounded by phylogenetically distant trees and by a dense herb cover. Molluscs grazed seedlings surrounding large conspecific adults and where herb cover is scarce. Contrary to our hypothesis, the impact of MaM did not change from 1 to 5 m distance from adult trees.
conclusionsWe suggest that foraging decisions of MaM repulse seedlings from old adults, and mediate the negative effects of herbaceous vegetation on tree recruitment. Also, an increase in mammalian seed predation might prevent trees from establishing in the niches of phylogenetically distantly related species, contrary to what is known from insect enemies.
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