Toucan movement and seed dispersal, Gamboa, Panama (data from Kays et al. 2011)-reference-data

Kays R, Jansen PA, Knecht EMH, Vohwinkel R, Wikelski M. 2016. Toucan movement and seed dispersal, Gamboa, Panama (data from Kays et al. 2011)-reference-data. Movebank Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.f32gn841/3

Abstract

Seed dispersal is critical to understanding forest dynamics but is hard to study because tracking seeds is difficult. Even for the best-studied dispersal system of the Neotropics, Virola nobilis, the dispersal kernel remains unknown. We combined high-resolution GPS/3D-acceleration bird tracking, seed-retention experiments, and field observations to quantify dispersal of V. nobilis by their principal dispersers, Ramphastos toucans. We inferred feeding events from movement data, and then estimated spatiotemporally explicit seed-dispersal kernels. Wild toucans moved an average of 1.8 km d^-1 with two distinct activity peaks. Seed retention time in captive toucans averaged 25.5 min (range 4-98 min). Estimated seed dispersal distance averaged 144 +/- 147 m, with a 56% likelihood of dispersal >100 m, two times further than the behaviour-naive estimate from the same data. Dispersal was furthest for seeds ingested in the morning, and increased with seed retention time, but only up to 60 min after feeding. Our study supports the long-standing hypothesis that toucans are excellent dispersers of Virola seeds. To maximize seed dispersal distances trees should ripen fruit in the morning when birds move the most, and produce fruits with gut-processing times around 60 min. Our study demonstrates how new tracking technology can yield nuanced seed dispersal kernels for animals that cannot be directly observed.

Keywords

accelerometer,animal tracking,chestnut-mandibled toucan,collared aracari,GPS tracking,keel-billed toucan,Myristicaceae,Panama,Pteroglossus torquatus,Ramphastos sulfuratus,Ramphastos swainsonii,regurgitation time,seed dispersal,seed dispersal kernel,Soberanía National Park,Swainson’s toucan,tropical forests,Virola nobilis

DOIs of related Publications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2011.06.007

URI

https://datarepository.movebank.org/handle/10255/move.509

BibTex

@misc{001/1_f32gn841/3,
  title = {Toucan movement and seed dispersal, Gamboa, Panama (data from Kays et al. 2011)-reference-data},
  author = {Kays, R and Jansen, PA and Knecht, EMH and Vohwinkel, R and Wikelski, M},
  year = {2016},
  URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.f32gn841/3},
  doi = {doi:10.5441/001/1.f32gn841/3},
  publisher = {Movebank data repository}
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
ID  - doi:10.5441/001/1.f32gn841/3
T1  - Toucan movement and seed dispersal, Gamboa, Panama (data from Kays et al. 2011)-reference-data
AU  - Kays, Roland
AU  - Jansen, Patrick A.
AU  - Knecht, Elise M.H.
AU  - Vohwinkel, Reinhard
AU  - Wikelski, Martin
Y1  - 2016/01/12
KW  - accelerometer
KW  - animal tracking
KW  - chestnut-mandibled toucan
KW  - collared aracari
KW  - GPS tracking
KW  - keel-billed toucan
KW  - Myristicaceae
KW  - Panama
KW  - Pteroglossus torquatus
KW  - Ramphastos sulfuratus
KW  - Ramphastos swainsonii
KW  - regurgitation time
KW  - seed dispersal
KW  - seed dispersal kernel
KW  - Soberanía National Park
KW  - Swainson’s toucan
KW  - tropical forests
KW  - Virola nobilis
KW  - Pteroglossus torquatus
KW  - Ramphastos sulfuratus
KW  - Ramphastos swainsonii
PB  - Movebank data repository
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.f32gn841/3
DO  - doi:10.5441/001/1.f32gn841/3
ER  -

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