Many a little makes a mickle: Global review about the importance of rodents and lagomorphs in seed dispersal

Our review paper by Laura Godó has recently been published in GECCO.

Godó, L., Valkó, O., Borza, S., Deák, B. (2022): A global review on the role of small rodents and lagomorphs (clade Glires) in seed dispersal and plant establishment. Global Ecology and Conservation 33: e01982. doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01982 [IF2020: 3.380] 

The paper is open access, and can be freely downloaded from here.

This is a comprehensive review based on approximately 600 papers where we evaluated the role of small herbivores of the orders Rodentia and Lagomorpha in seed dispersal. The studied animal taxa occur in all continents, in all terrestrial habitat types, they form a diverse group with more than 2100 species. Practically these animals occur wherever seeds are present, so all seeds are eaten, dispersed or ignored by a small herbivore. Despite these, there are many knowledge gaps regarding the role of Glires in seed dispersal and many potentially important mechanisms have not been studied yet.

 

Examples of the most important small seed disperser mammals.

In our review we discuss the types of rodent- and lagomorph-mediated seed dispersal, with a special emphasis on epizoochory (dispersal on fur), endozoochory (dispersal  through the digestive tract), synzoochory (dispersal through food caches) and caliochory (dispersal through nest material). Then we evaluate the environmental factors and biotic interactions, such as soil properties, habitat structure, predation risk, that mediate seed dispersal by Glires. We also give an overview on the often human-induced threat factors that affect these seed dispersal processes, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, defaunation, invasive alien species. We higlight the peculiarities of Glires-mediated seed dispersal compared to dispersal by large herbivores and show examples on plant adaptations that influence Glires-mediated seed dispersal. Finally, we evaluate these plant-animal relationships from the perspective of ecosystem services and disservices and identify the major knowledge gaps and promising future research avenues. 

Finally, this article turned to be a very comprehensive, and hopefully very interesting review paper and congratulations to Laura for her hard work during the reading, writing and review process!

Abstract

Zoochory is an ecologically and evolutionarily important seed dispersal type. The decline and extinction of seed-dispersing large herbivores severely threatens dispersal-driven ecosystem processes in many regions. Hence the relative importance of small rodents and lagomorphs (Glires, Mammalia) as dispersal vectors might increase due to their ubiquity, diversity and abundance. Here we provide a review of rodent- and lagomorph-mediated seed dispersal based on approximately 600 papers found in an extensive literature search. We highlight that small rodents and lagomorphs disperse seeds via various mechanisms. The seldom documented epi- and endozoochory are probably universal in these groups. Due to their small home range, short fur and small body size, these mechanisms generally operate at small scales and mainly for small seeds. Taxon-specific feeding, nesting and behavioural characteristics provide a wide spectrum of other seed dispersal types, such as synzoochory (food caching). The studied taxa generally support seed dispersal within a particular habitat patch, contributing to the persistence of local populations, but in rare cases, long-distance dispersal events might occur. Besides seed dispersal, rodents and lagomorphs can also support plant establishment and provide safe sites for seeds where they can survive stochastic events. Studies reviewed here show a strong bias both in scope and geographical distribution: synzoochorous dispersal of woody plants is known in detail, and most studies were conducted in the same few countries and habitat types. In contrast, other mechanisms such as endozoochory, epizoochory and habitat types like grasslands and anthropogenic habitats have rarely been studied. We show examples on ecosystem services and disservices related to rodent- and lagomorph-mediated seed dispersal as well as the importance of these processes in habitat conservation and restoration.

New projects targeting public outreach and dissemination

 

Four projects from our research group received funding in the 'Scientific Mecenatura' call of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office. The call targets to support public outreach and dissemination activities and citizen science projects.

We are very happy that thanks to this funding, we will be able to continue and upscale our project that aims to support the use of native flowering plant species in home gardens instead of non-native, potentially invasive alternatives.

NKFI MEC_N 140750  Nature at home: Supporting native plant species in urban gardens

The mission of our project is environmental education by dissemination of knowledge, the practical involvement of participants and the analysis of social attitudes. Our project aims to bring nature closer to people, as a number of new researches prove that a greener environment contributes to maintaining our physical and mental health. It is also becoming more and more fashionable to decorate homes and courtyards of institutions with plants and flowers. We want to reach people through this ’fashion’ and offer a nature-friendly alternative, that is, we can also decorate our environment with native plants. Our project offers a good challenge or a playful task for almost all people with any area of interest, regardless of age, or even a new hobby. We offer the seeds of native flowering plants from which people can choose and plant them at home. This way the participants can get one step closer to a nature-friendly home, kindergarten or school yard. Our target group is wide, anyone from the preschool age can get involved and do something for nature conservation with their own hands. We create information and display materials which will be available online and in print. We create a website with useful functions and a short film which will be available on the YouTube video sharing website. We also create a promotional and news-sharing page on the Facebook social media website. Project participants receive a printed brochure containing all the necessary information. We provide the opportunity for personal meeting and contact; we also present our project in stands at nature- and environmental conservation events and in ‘green tents’ of festivals. An attention-grabbing molino is made for these events. We present our project in environmental and biology classes in primary and secondary schools. We ask the participants to fill in an anonymous questionnaire and ask for feedback on the results of the planting and the experiences. With the help of the questionnaire and the feedback, we can improve our project in the future, as it can shed light on the social attitude and on the criteria for choosing an ‘ornamental plant’. Our project is a good opportunity to combine an increasingly popular hobby, gardening, with nature conservation. It provides an opportunity for enthusiastic participants to collaborate, build a community, share experiences and support each other. For children – one of our main target groups – it can even serve as a school task to create a small garden at home or in the school yard and to follow and observe the development of the plants.

Our goal is to spread the word about the use of native flowering plants instead of non-native and potentially invasive alternatives in home gardens.

The project participants: Laura Godó (the main coordinator of the project), Orsolya Valkó (principal investigator), and we receive a lot of help from project participants: Katalin Lukács, Réka Kiss, Sándor Borza, Balázs Deák.

We will regularly give project updates here and elsewhere in the future :)

Besides this big project, three members of our research group also received funding for the communication of their results and presentation at international conferences:

Sándor Borza, MEC_R_141154: The common crane (Grus grus), an ecosystem engineer in dry grasslands

Soil disturbance by the common crane (the so-called 'crane-ploughing') creates distinct vegetation patches in alkaline grasslands.

Laura Godó, MEC_R_141151: Secondary seed dispersal by the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in open habitats

Via diploendozoochory, a bird of prey, such as the Barn Owl can also contribute to the dispersal of plant propagules.

 

Katalin Lukács, MEC_R_141156: The role of humans in seed dispersal

During outdoor activities, we can unintendedly disperse a large amount of plant propagules on our clothes and footwear.