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article
Acta Oecologica > 2009 > 35 > 3 > 380-384
Benefits conferred on plants in ant-mediated seed dispersal mutualisms (myrmecochory) depend on the fate of transported seeds. We studied the effects of elaiosome presence, seed size and seed treatment (with and without passage through a bird's digestive tract) on short-term seed fate in Rhamnus alaternus. In our study, we define short-term seed, or initial, seed fate, as the location where ants release...
article
Plant Ecology > 2006 > 183 > 1 > 77-89
We studied avian frugivory and seed dispersal in a dioecious shrub, Rhamnus alaternus, focusing on the quantitative and qualitative components of effectiveness. The study took place at three locations in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, and examined bird behaviour, intensity of feeding, and the consequences for seedling emergence. The coincidence between the bird breeding season and fruit ripening...
article
Acta Oecologica > 2005 > 27 > 2 > 115-123
In the reproductive cycle of fleshy-fruited plants, and before the seeds are dispersed, some fruits fall down or are predated on the branches. Here, we study the predispersal biology of Rhamnus alaternus in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula over a 4-year period. Specifically, we examined fruit production, fructification and the phenology of ripening, together with the causes and the consequences...
