Compton, SG orcid.org/0000-0002-1247-8058 and Greeff, JM (2020) Few figs for frugivores: Riparian fig trees in Zimbabwe may not be a dry season keystone resource. African Journal of Ecology. ISSN 0141-6707
Abstract
Most plants flower and fruit at times of year when probabilities of pollination and seedling establishment are high. Fig trees (Ficus spp.) are often considered as keystone resources for vertebrate frugivores, in part because of year‐round fig production. This unusual fruiting phenology results in the maintenance of fig wasp populations, but in seasonal environments this means fruiting occurs during periods when the chances of seedling establishment are low. Under these circumstances, selection is expected to favour any individuals that reduce or eliminate fruiting at these times. Here, we describe a large‐scale survey of the extent of dry season fruiting by three riparian Ficus species in Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe. Few trees of two monoecious species, F. sycomorus and F. abutilifolia, had figs, and most crops of F. sycomorus were far smaller than the trees were capable of producing. Large stands of the dioecious F. capreifolia were present, but fig densities were low and no mature female (seed containing) figs were recorded. Even though fig trees may have been the only species bearing fruit, the consequences of the low investment in reproduction by the three Ficus species were clear—there were too few figs for a landscape‐scale keystone role.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 The Authors. African Journal of Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Agaonidae; dioecy; Ficus; phenology; seed dispersal |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Sep 2020 13:19 |
Last Modified: | 18 Sep 2020 13:19 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/aje.12773 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:165450 |