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Seed predation and dispersal in a dominant desert plant: Opuntia, ants, birds, and mammals

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Frugivores and seed dispersal

Part of the book series: Tasks for vegetation science ((TAVS,volume 15))

Abstract

Several Opuntia spp. (Cactaceae) occur in large and dense stands in semiarid central Mexico. Their fruits and seeds are a major food source for rodents, and to a lesser extent, for harvester ants, birds, and other mammals. O. robusta and O. streptacantha differ in their timing of fruit production and presentation and in some fruit traits which may have different consequences for seed predation/dispersal interactions with the same group of animals. Multiple interactions suggesting a changing seed predation/seed dispersal facilitation among these plants and animals are reported. The fate of Opuntia seeds (either eaten or dispersed) after several possible seed predation/moving/dispersal interactions apparently depends on such characteristics of the habitat as the abundance of rodent populations and the availability of optional resources for these specialized granivores.

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  1. Centro de Botánica, Colegio de Postgraduados, Chapingo, Estado de México, 56230, México

    Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio

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  1. Mario González-Espinosa
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  2. Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio
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Alejandro Estrada Theodore H. Fleming

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© 1986 Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht

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González-Espinosa, M., Quintana-Ascencio, P.F. (1986). Seed predation and dispersal in a dominant desert plant: Opuntia, ants, birds, and mammals. In: Estrada, A., Fleming, T.H. (eds) Frugivores and seed dispersal. Tasks for vegetation science, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4812-9_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4812-9_24

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