Bird guts prime seeds for survival
Posted by staff / June 25, 2013 birdsEvan Frickeseed survival
Seeds gobbled by birds and dispersed across the landscape have a better chance of surviving, and new research may explain why.
Scientists have long known that those seeds that are carried in birds’ bellies tend to fare better than those that fall near parent plants where seed-hungry predators and pathogens are more concentrated.
Passing through bird guts increased seed survival 370 percent, regardless of how far the seeds were dispersed from its parent, says Evan Fricke, a doctoral student in biology at the University of Washington.
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: Matt MacGillivray/Flickr
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