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Woodpeckers can act as dispersal vectors for fungi, plants, and microorganisms
- Source :
- Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 12, Pp 7154-7163 (2021), Ecology and Evolution
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Bird‐mediated dispersal is presumed to be important in the dissemination of many different types of organisms, but concrete evidence remains scarce. This is especially true for biota producing microscopic propagules. Tree‐dwelling birds, such as woodpeckers, would seem to represent ideal dispersal vectors for organisms growing on standing tree trunks such as epiphytic lichens and fungi. Here, we utilize bird natural history collections as a novel source of data for studying dispersal ecology of plants, fungi, and microorganisms. We screened freshly preserved specimens of three Finnish woodpecker species for microscopic propagules. Samples were taken from bird feet, and chest and tail feathers. Propagules were extracted using a sonication–centrifugation protocol, and the material obtained was studied using light microscopy. Diverse biological material was recovered from all specimens of all bird species, from all positions sampled. Most abundant categories of discovered biological material included bryophyte fragments, fungal spores, and vegetative propagules of lichens. Also, freshwater diatoms, bryophyte spores, algal cells, testate amebae, rotifers, nematodes, pollen, and insect scales were identified. The method developed here is applicable to living specimens as well, making it a versatile tool for further research. Our findings highlight the potential of bird‐mediated dispersal for diverse organisms and showcase the use of natural history collections in ecological research.<br />Woodpeckers are ideal candidates for bird‐mediated dispersal for a diverse set of organisms, especially epiphytes. We report high loads of diverse biological propagules extracted from feathers and feet of woodpecker specimens from natural history collections. The study highlights the potential of birds as dispersal vectors of lichens, fungi, bryophytes, and more.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
EVERYWHERE
based research
spore
Woodpecker
lichen
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Nature Notes
GLOBAL DISPERSAL
03 medical and health sciences
Propagule
epizoochory
collection‐based research
dispersal
Lichen
QH540-549.5
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
030304 developmental biology
Nature and Landscape Conservation
0303 health sciences
Ecology
biology
fungi
AERIAL DISPERSAL
Biota
15. Life on land
biology.organism_classification
collection‐
Spore
MIGRATORY BIRDS
LONG-DISTANCE DISPERSAL
1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology
PATTERNS
Biological dispersal
woodpecker
Bryophyte
Epiphyte
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20457758
- Volume :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Ecology and Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....36b42a578b9f5cb8c874ba4823298e94