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Fruit of a contrasting colour is more detectable by frugivores

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2011

Geruza Leal Melo ,
Natasha Costa Penatti  and
Josué Raizer
Geruza Leal Melo*
Affiliation:
Post-graduate Program in Ecology and Conservation, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Box 549, 79070-900, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
Natasha Costa Penatti
Affiliation:
Post-graduate Program in Ecology and Conservation, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Box 549, 79070-900, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
Josué Raizer
Affiliation:
Federal University of Grande Dourados, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Box 322, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil
*
1Corresponding author. Email: geruzalm@yahoo.com.br
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Extract

Determination of the factors that rule the preference of birds for certain fruits is fundamental to the understanding of the co-evolution of plants and their dispersers (Alves-Costa & Lopes 2001). Plants might compete for dispersers, and the response of dispersers will differ according to the variety of fruits available in nature (Denslow & Moermond 1982, Herrera 1981). Seed dispersal by birds is directly related to certain features of fruit, including colour, size, shape, abundance, nutritional value, habitat and distance between plants that are fruiting (Alves-Costa & Lopes 2001, Galetti et al. 2003, Levey et al. 1994, Murray et al. 1993). To understand how birds integrate these features in terms of fruit choice is a complex and widely misunderstood problem (Levey et al. 1994).

Keywords

artificial fruitbirdscontrast hypothesisdispersalPantanalresource conspicuousness
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , May 2011 , pp. 319 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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