RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Spatiotemporal variation of a Pinus seed rain available for an endemic finch in an insular environment
A1 García del Rey, Eduardo
A1 Nanos, Nikos
A1 López de Heredia, Unai
A1 Gil Muñoz, Pascual
A1 Otto, Rüdiger
A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María
A1 Gil, Luis
K1 Seed trap
K1 Seed rain
K1 Conservation implications
K1 Lluvia de semillas
K1 Implicaciones de conservación
AB A major goal of avian ecological research is todetermine how distribution and abundance of preferredresources available influence population dynamics and contributeto understand life-history characteristics. Food iswidely considered the ultimate factor influencing these traits.We studied, with seed traps, the spatiotemporal variability ofPinus canariensis seed rain during 2007–2008, as a means toexplain why a post-dispersal seed predator of conservationconcern, the endemic blue chaffinch Fringilla teydea, canadjust its annual life cycle with this variation in an insularenvironment. Generalized linear mixed models and geostatisticaltools were used. Results highlight that temperatureand relative humidity are important predictors of seed releaserates. Additionally, a high temporal variation was detected inseed abundance (i.e., peaks of massive seed release duringthe summer months, intermediate values in the autumn, andminimum release rates in winter and spring). Finally, withinstandspatial variation in seed flux was surprisingly largewith the most productive microsites receiving three to fourtimes more seeds than the least productive ones. Pine seedsshowed a high protein value and a low germination rate.Based on these findings, we suggest that the fortunes of theblue chaffinch should be intimately related to spatiotemporalannual P. canariensis seed crops, temperature acting as aproximate cue, and food availability as the ultimate factor.For the endangered blue chaffinch population on GranCanaria, we recommend, until more data are available,improving the seed supply during the winter season, eitherartificially (feeders) or naturally (planting Myrica fayashrubs).
PB Springer
SN 1612-4642
YR 2011
FD 2011
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/16446
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/16446
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 24-abr-2024