Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T16:56:51.486Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seed predation in a tropical mangrove forest: a test of the dominance-predation model in northern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Keith A. McGuinness
Keith A. McGuinness
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Northern Territory University, Darwin NT 0909, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Studies of predation on propagules of the mangroves Avicennia marina, Bruguiera exaristata, Ceriops tagal and Rhizophora stylosa were made in a forest in northern Australia to test the generality of the dominance-predation model. This model states that an inverse relationship exists between the dominance of a species in the canopy of mangrove forests and the rate of predation on the propagules of that species. Significant differences in predation were found among the four species, and among patches of forest dominated by the different species. Predators attacked more than 50% of the propagules of all species except R. stylosa, so are likely to significantly affect forest structure. The intensity of predation did not, however, vary as the dominance-predation model predicted. Instead, predation on the propagules of a species appeared to depend on the availability of propagules of other, more highly preferred, species.

Keywords

AvicenniaBruguieraCeriopscrabsintertidal mangrovesRhizophoraseed predationtree dominance
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , March 1997 , pp. 293 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Burkey, T. V. 1994. Tropical tree species diversity – a test of the Janzen-Connell model. Oecologia 97:533–540.Google Scholar
Cintron, G. & Novelli, Y. S. 1984. Methods for studying mangrove structure. Pp. 91–113 in Snedaker, S. C. & Snedaker, J. G. (eds). The mangrove ecosystem: research methods. UNESCO, Paris. 251 pp.Google Scholar
Connell, J. H. 1971. On the role of natural enemies in preventing competitive exclusion in some marine animals and in rain forest trees. Pp. 298–312 in Den Boer, P. J. & Gradwell, G. (eds). Dynamics of populations. Wageningen, PUDOC.Google Scholar
Connell, J. H., Tracey, J. G. & Webb, L. J. 1984. Compensatory recruitment, growth, and mortality as factors maintaining rain forest tree diversity. Ecological Monographs 54:141–164.Google Scholar
Howe, H. F. 1989. Scatter- and clump-dispersal and seedling demography: hypothesis and implication. Oecologia 79:417–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, D. H. 1970. Herbivores and the number of tree species in tropical forests. American Naturalist 104:501–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, D. H. 1971. Seed predation by animals. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 2:465–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mcguinness, K. A. 1992. Disturbance and the mangrove forests of Darwin Harbour. Pp. 55–62 in Moffatt, I. & Webb, A. (eds). Conservation and development issues in North Australia. Australian National University Press, Canberra. 277 pp.Google Scholar
Mcguinness, K. A. 1994. The climbing behaviour of Cerithidea anticipata (Mollusca: Gastropoda): the role of physical versus biological factors. Australian Journal of Ecology 19:283–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mcguinness, K. A. 1996. Dispersal, establishment and survival of Ceriops tagal propagules in a north Australian mangrove forest. Oecologia (in press).Google Scholar
Mckee, K. L. 1995. Seedling recruitment patterns in a Belizean mangrove forest: effects of establishment ability and physico-chemical factors. Oecologia 101:448–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Notman, E., Gorchov, D. L. & Cornejo, F. 1996. Effect of distance, aggregation, and habitat on levels of seed predation for two mammal-dispersed neotropical rain forest tree species. Oecologia 106:221–227.Google Scholar
Osborne, K. & IIISmith, T. J. 1990. Differential predation on mangrove propagules in open and closed canopy forest habitats. Vegetatio 89:1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, A. I. 1991. Plant-animal interactions and the structure and function of mangrove forest ecosystems. Australian Journal of Ecology 16:433–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schupp, E. W. 1988. Seed and early seedling predation in the forest understory and in treefall gaps. Oikos 51:71–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IIISmith, T. J. 1987a. Seed predation in relation to tree dominance and distribution in mangrove forests. Ecology 68:266–273.Google Scholar
IIISmith, T. J. 1987b. Effects of seed predators and light level on the distribution of Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh. in tropical, tidal forests. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 25:43–51.Google Scholar
IIISmith, T. J., K. Boto, G., Frusher, S. D. & Giddins, R. L. 1991. Keystone species and mangrove forest dynamics: the influence of burrowing by crabs on soil nutrient status and forest productivity. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 33:419–432.Google Scholar
IIISmith, T. J., Chan, H. T., Mcivor, C. C. & Robblee, M. B. 1989. Comparisons of seed predation in tropical, tidal forests from three continents. Ecology 70:146–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinke, T. D., Rajh, A. & Holland, A. J. 1993. The feeding behaviour of the red mangrove crabs Sesarma meinerti de man, 1887 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Grapsidae) and its effect on the degradation of mangrove leaf litter. South African Journal of Science 13:151–160.Google Scholar
Tomlinson, P. B. 1986. The botany of mangroves. Cambridge University Press, London. 413 pp.Google Scholar
Wightman, G. M. 1989. Mangroves of the Northern Territory. Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 130 pp.Google Scholar
Winer, B. J. 1981. Statistical principles in experimental design, 2nd edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, New York. 907 pp.Google Scholar