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Dispersal of Leafy Spurge Seeds (Euphorbia esula) by Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

David E. Blockstein ,
Bruce D. Maxwell  and
Peter K. Fay
David E. Blockstein
Affiliation:
Univ. Minnesota, Bell Museum of Nat. Hist., 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Bruce D. Maxwell
Affiliation:
Plant and Soil Sci. Dep., Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT 59717
Peter K. Fay
Affiliation:
Plant and Soil Sci. Dep., Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT 59717
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Abstract

The potential of mourning doves (Zenaida macroura L.) as dispersers of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L. # EPHES) seeds was investigated by examing digestive tract contents and feces. Very few intact seeds passed through the digestive systems of wild or captive adult mourning doves. An average of less than one intact leafy spurge seed/g was recovered from fecal material found in dove nests. These results suggest that adult mourning doves are primarily consumers of leafy spurge seeds and rarely act as dispersal agents. It appears that dispersal is only possible when seeds passing through the digestive tracts of nestlings are deposited in the nest and the nest later falls.

Keywords

Seed predatorEPHES
Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Information
Weed Science , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , March 1987 , pp. 160 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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