Portal de Murcia
www.portaldemurcia.com
The results of a work carried out by researchers from the University of Murcia (UMU), funded by the Port Authority of Cartagena, offer a useful approach when proposing restoration policies for a priority habitat of the semi-arid Mediterranean, promoting the role of birds in seed dispersal.
This is a study developed in the 5220 * priority habitat, specifically in the Sierra de la Fausilla (Cartagena coast), directed by the UMU researcher Pilar de la Rúa.
The Iberian Southeast represents the only enclave of this habitat in continental Europe, being, in addition, an area very threatened by human activities, which has already produced a significant decrease in its occupied area.
The results of the research, published in the PeerJ magazine, indicate that a large number of animals, especially birds, consume the fruits of the characteristic plants of habitat 5220 * thus contributing to the dispersal of their seeds, which represents an opportunity for design conservation strategies and mitigate the effects of human alterations.
The role of animals in the restoration of priority habitat
Within the framework of this study, regurgitated seeds and feces containing them were collected.
With these samples, "dispersal animals have been identified by combining genetic tools, using the technique known as barcode DNA-barcoding, and visual identification of feces," says one of the researchers in charge of the study, Vicente Martínez López.
The results show that the birds were responsible for dispersing most of the plant species characteristic of the 5220 * habitat.
As for mammals, they dispersed very few native species (especially palm hearts), being mainly dispersers of man-grown species.
A priority habitat
Priority habitats are those with a special degree of threat, given their limited distribution within the European Union, and which therefore have a high risk of disappearing from the territory of the same.
In the case of 5220 *, that of Sierra de la Fausilla, it is an area characterized by the presence of Mediterranean arborescent thickets with azofaifos in generally arid coastal areas, formations characterized by the presence of many species of fleshy fruit.
Future implications
"These results represent a first diagnosis on the role of animals that feed on fruits, in the dispersion of fleshy fruit plants characteristic of habitat 5220 *. However, it is necessary to develop future lines of research to evaluate the role of animals as restorative agents of this ecosystem, "says Martínez López.
According to the UMU researcher, many of the plant species in this environment have strong interannual variations in their fruiting, alternating years of large crops and others of little or no.
Therefore, "it is necessary to carry out studies of greater temporal duration that allow to detect the contribution of the animals to disperse each one of the species of plants", concludes Martínez López.
Another factor to take into account is that, although the seeds are dispersed by animals, the fact that they give rise to an adult plant is not guaranteed, since they need to be deposited in an appropriate environment where to germinate and settle.
"This is part of what is known as post-dispersive stages and studies that address this issue in this priority habitat should be developed," says the expert.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
Privacy policy
- Legal notice
- Cookies