Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:44:14.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The role of the white-eyed vireo in the dispersal of Bursera fruit on the Yucatan Peninsula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Russell Greenberg ,
Mercedes S. Foster  and
Laura Marquez-Valdelamar
Russell Greenberg
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, D. C. 20008, USA
Mercedes S. Foster
Affiliation:
Colección Ornitológica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F., México
Laura Marquez-Valdelamar
Affiliation:
National Biological Survey, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20560–0111, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

White-eyed vireos (Vireo griseus) winter in the forests and secondary growth of the Yucatan Peninsula where Bursera simaruba (Burseraceae) is an abundant tree. Twenty-five per cent of all white-eyed vireos observed foraging visited Bursera trees. In addition, presence and abundance of territorial white-eyed vireos in small forest patches were correlated with the size of the Bursera crop. Vireos were the most reliable dispersers of Bursera seeds. These birds visited 32 of 35 trees observed for at least three hours. They accounted for approximately half of all bird visits, and two-thirds of the seeds dispersed. Most of the other species rarely visited (<5% of visits) or failed to remove seeds from the tree.

Peculiarities of phenology and fruit structure may contribute to the tendency of Bursera to be dispersed by relatively few species. The capsules of Bursera fruits do not open when the fruit ripens; birds apparently locate ripe fruit using visual cues, although these are few. In addition, only a small portion of the crop ripens daily over a 7- or 8-month period. The vireo-Bursera simaruba relationship, found regionally on the Yucatan Peninsula, may result from the prolonged fruit ripening period (October-March), the relatively depauperate frugivore community and the relatively high density of small Bursera trees in the hurricane-disturbed dry forests.

Small trees at all times, and all trees from October to February, depend upon territorial vireos for continuous, highly efficient local dispersal of a small number of fruits. In March and April residual fruits ripen rapidly and synchronously, attracting a greater variety of visitors for broad spectrum dispersal during a period of food scarcity. Thus, Bursera has an unusual two-phase phenological pattern, perhaps alternately to take advantage of both specialized and opportunistic dispersers.

Keywords

avian energeticsBursera simarubafrugivorymigratory birdsmutualismseed dispersalVireo griseus
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , November 1995 , pp. 619 - 639
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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

American Ornithologists' Union. 1983. Check-list of North American birds (6th edition). American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Barlow, J. 1980. Patterns of ecological interactions among migrant and resident vireos in the wintering grounds. Pp. 79–107 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds). Migrant birds in the neotropics. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bates, J. M. 1992. Frugivory on Bursera microphylla (Burseraceae) by wintering Gray Vireos (Vireo vicinior, Vireonidae) in the coastal deserts of Sonora, Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 37:252–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapin, E. A. 1925. Food habits of vireos; a family of insectivorous birds. U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin 1355:1–42.Google Scholar
Davidar, P. & Morton, E. S. 1986. The relationship between fruit crop sizes and fruit removal rates by birds. Ecology 67:262–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunning, J. B. 1993. CRC handbook of avian body mass. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
Fisher, H. 1972. The nutrition of birds. Pp. 431–469 in Farner, D. S., King, J. R. & Parkes, K. C. (eds). Avian biology, Vol. II. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, M. S. 1977. Ecological and nutritional effects of food scarcity on a tropical frugivorous bird and its fruit source. Ecology 58:73–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, M. S. 1987. Feeding methods and efficiencies of selected frugivorous birds. Condor 89:566–580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, M. S. & McDiarmid, R. W. 1983. Nutritional value of the aril of Trichilia cuneata, a bird-dispersed fruit. Biotropica 15:26–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, R. S. 1981. Frugivory in some migrant tropical forest wood warblers. Biotropica 13:215–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, R. S. 1992. Forest migrants in non-forest habitats in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Pp. 273–287 in Hagan, J. III & Johnston, D. (eds). The conservation of neotropical migratory landbirds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Greenberg, R., Niven, D. K., Hopp, S. & Boone, C. 1993. Frugivory and coexistence in a resident and a migratory vireo on the Yucatan Peninsula. Condor 95:990–999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrera, C. M. 1986. Vertebrate dispersed plants: why they don't behave the way they should. Pp. 518 in Estrada, A. & Fleming, T. H. (eds). Frugivores and seed dispersal. Junk, The Hague.Google Scholar
Howe, H. F. 1979. Fear and frugivory. American Naturalist 114:925–931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howe, H. F. 1984. Constraints on the evolution of mutualism. American Naturalist 123:764–777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howe, H. F. & DeSteven, D. 1979. Fruit production, migration, bird visitation, and seed dispersal of Guarea glabra in Panama. Oecologia 39:185–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howe, H. F. & Vande Kerckhove, G. A. 1979. Fecundity and seed dispersal of a tiopical tree. Ecology 60:180–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jauregui, E., Vidal, J. & Cruz, F. 1980. Los ciclones y tormentas tropicales en Quintana Roo durante el periodo 1871–1975. Pp. 47–63 in Memorias de problematica y perspectiva de Quintana Roo. Instituto de Geografia, UNAM y CIQRO, Cancun, Mexico.Google Scholar
King, J. R. 1974. Seasonal allocation of time and energy resources in birds. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithology Club 15:4–70.Google Scholar
Leck, C. F. 1972. The impact of some North American migrants at fruiting trees in Panama. Auk 89:842–850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levey, D. & Stiles, F. G. 1992. Evolutionary precursors of long-distance migration in neotropical landbirds. American Naturalist 140:447–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, E. L. Jr, & Wadsworth, F. H. 1964. Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Agriculture Handbook, no. 249. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Lynch, J. F. 1989. Distribution of overwintering nearctic migrants in the Yucatan Peninsula: I. General patterns of occurrence. Condor 91:515–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, E. W. 1968. The effects of dietary protein on the energy and nitrogen balance of the Tree Sparrow (Spitella arborea). Physiological Zoology 41:313–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, T. E. 1985. Selection of second-growth woodlands by frugivorous migrating birds in Panama: an effect of fruit size and plant density? Journal of Tropical Ecology 1:157–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKey, D. 1975. The ecology of coevolved dispersal systems. Pp. 159–191 in Gilbert, L. E. & Raven, P. H. (eds). Coevolution of animals and plants. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton, E. S. 1973. On the evolutionary advantages and disadvantages of fruit eating in tropical birds. American Naturalist 107:8–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olmsted, I., Lopez Ornat, A. & Duran, R. 1983. Vegetacion. Pp. 41–64 in Sian Ka'an, estudios preliminares. SEDUE, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México.Google Scholar
Paine, R. T. 1971. The measurement and application of the calorie to ecosystem problems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 2:145–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, T. D. & Sarukhan, J. 1968. Arbotes tropicales de México. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. México, DF, México and Rome, Italy.Google Scholar
Randall, E. L. 1974. Improved method for fat and oil analysis by a new process of extraction. Journal of the Association of Analytical Chemists 57:1165–1168.Google Scholar
Rappole, J. & Warner, D. 1980. Ecological aspects of migrant bird behavior in Veracruz, Mexico. Pp. 353–393 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds). Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Ricklefs, R. E. 1974. Energetics of reproduction in birds. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithology Club 15:152–292.Google Scholar
Rzedowski, J. 1978. Vegetación de México. Editorial Limusa, Mexico, DF.Google Scholar
Salomonson, M. J. 1978. Adaptation for animal dispersal of one-seed juniper seeds. Oecologia 32:333–339.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, P. E. & Martin, R. F. 1984. Avian consumers of Bursera, Ficus, and Ehretia fruit in Yucatan. Biotropica 16:319–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D. 1969. Removing and analyzing total nonstructural carbohydrates from plant tissue. Research Department, University of Wisconsin, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Stevens, G. 1983. Bursera simaruba. Pp. 210–212 in Janzen, D. (ed.). Costa Rican natural history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Stiles, E. 1980. Patterns of fruit presentation and seed dispersal of bird-disseminated woody plants in the eastern deciduous forest. American Naturalist 116:670–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiles, E. 1982. Fruit flags: two hypotheses. American Naturalist 120:500–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terborgh, J. 1989. Where have all the birds gone? Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. N. & Willson, M. F. 1979. Evolution of temperate fruit/bird interactions: phenological strategies. Evolution 33:973–982.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trainer, J. M. & Will, T. C. 1984. Avian methods of feeding on Bursera simaruba (Burseraceae) fruits in Panama. Auk 101:193–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheelwright, N. T. & Orians, G. H. 1982. Seed dispersal by animals: contrasts with pollen dispersal, problems of terminology, and constraints on coevolution. American Naturalist 119:402–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar