Frugivore: Difference between revisions

A '''frugivore''' ({{IPAc-en|f|r|uː|dʒ|ᵻ|v|ɔːr}}) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of [[mammal]]ian herbivores eat fruit.<ref name="Dannell">{{Cite book|last1=Danell|first1=Kjell|title=Plant–Animal Interactions: An Evolutionary Approach|last2=Bergström|first2=Roger|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0632052677|editor-last=Herrera|editor-first=Carlos M.|publication-date=February 2002|chapter=Mammalian herbivory in terrestrial environments|date=February 2002|lccn=2004302984|editor-last2=Pellmyr|editor-first2=Olle}}</ref> Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and nutritional composition of fruits. Frugivores can benefit or hinder fruit-producing plants by either dispersing or destroying their seeds through digestion. When both the [[fruit]]-producing plant and the frugivore benefit by fruit-eating behavior the interaction is a form of [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualism]].

There are a number of fruit characteristics that seem to be adaptive characteristics to attract frugivores. Animal-dispersed fruits may advertise their palatability to animals with bright colors <ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lim|first1=Ganges|last2=Burns|first2=Kevin C.|date=2021-11-24|title=Do fruit reflectance properties affect avian frugivory in New Zealand?|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2021.2001664|journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany|volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=319–329|doi=10.1080/0028825X.2021.2001664|s2cid=244683146|issn=0028-825X}}</ref> and attractive smells (mimetic fruits).<ref name="Galetti">{{Cite book|last=Galetti|first=Mauro|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271706264|title=Seed Dispersal and Frugivory: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation|publisher=[[CABI Publishing]]|isbn=978-0851995250|editor-last=Levey|editor-first=Douglas J.|publication-date=February 2002|pages=177–191|chapter=Seed Dispersal of Mimetic Fruits: Parasitism, Mutualism, Aposematism or Exapation?|year=2002|lccn=2001035222|author-link=Mauro Galetti|editor-last2=Silva|editor-first2=Wesley R.|editor-last3=Galetti|editor-first3=Mauro|via=[[ResearchGate]]}}</ref> Fruit pulp is generally rich in water and [[carbohydrate]]s and low in [[protein]] and [[lipid]]s. However, the exact nutritional composition of fruits varies widely. The seeds of animal-dispersed fruits are often adapted to survive digestion by frugivores. For example, seeds can become more permeable to water after passage through an animal's gut. This leads to higher [[germination]] rates.<ref name="Traveset">{{Cite journal|last1=Traveset|first1=Anna|last2=Rodríguez-Pérez|first2=Javier|last3=Pías|first3=Beatriz|date=2008|editor-last=Valone|editor-first=T. J.|title=Seed Trait Changes in Dispersers' Guts and Consequences for Germination and Seedling Growth|url=https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/110956/1/Traveset-Ecology-2008-v89-n1-p95.pdf|url-status=live|journal=[[Ecology (journal)|Ecology]]|volume=89|issue=1|pages=95–106|doi=10.1890/07-0094.1|jstor=27651512|pmid=18376551|bibcode=2008Ecol...89...95T |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723155800/https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/110956/1/Traveset-Ecology-2008-v89-n1-p95.pdf|archive-date=July 23, 2018|via=the [[Spanish National Research Council]]|hdl=10261/110956|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Some [[mistletoe]] seeds even germinate inside the disperser's intestine.<ref name=Traveset/>

*Chemical deterrents in plants are called [[secondary metabolite]]s. Secondary metabolites are compounds produced by the plant that are not essential for the primary processes, such as growth and reproduction. Toxins might have evolved to prevent consumption by animals that disperse seeds into unsuitable habitats, to prevent too many fruits from being eaten per feeding bout by preventing too many seeds being deposited in one site, or to prevent digestion of the seeds in the gut of the animal.<ref name="Barnea">{{Cite journal|last1=Barnea|first1=Anat|last2=Harborne|first2=Jeffrey B.|author-link2=Jeffrey Harborne|last3=Pannell|first3=C.|date=June 1993|title=What parts of fleshy fruits contain secondary compounds toxic to birds and why?|journal=[[Biochemical Systematics and Ecology]]|volume=21|issue=4|pages=421–429|doi=10.1016/0305-1978(93)90100-6|bibcode=1993BioSE..21..421B }}</ref> Secondary chemical defenses are divided into three categories: [[nitrogen]]-based, [[carbon]]-based [[terpene]]s, and carbon-based [[polyphenol|phenolics]].

=== Birds<span class="anchor" id="Avian species"></span> ===

Since seed dispersal allows plant species to disperse to other areas, the loss of frugivores could change plant communities and lead to the local loss of particular plant species. Since frugivore seed dispersal is so important in the tropics, many researchers have studied the loss of frugivores and related it to changed plant population dynamics. Several studies have noted that even the loss of only large frugivores, such as monkeys, could have a negative effect, since they are responsible for certain types of long-distance seed dispersal that is not seen with other frugivore types, like birds.<ref name=Jordano/> However, plant species whose seeds are dispersed by animals may be less vulnerable to fragmentation than other plant species.<ref name="Montoya">{{Cite journal|last1=Montoya|first1=Daniel|last2=Zavala|first2=Miguel A.|last3=Rodríguez|first3=Miguel A.|last4=Purves|first4=Drew W.|date=June 13, 2008|title=Animal Versus Wind Dispersal and the Robustness of Tree Species to Deforestation|url=https://www3.uah.es/marodriguez/MARodriguez_Papers/Montoya_etal_2008_SCIENCE.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=320|issue=5882|pages=1502–1504|doi=10.1126/science.1158404|jstor=i20054220|pmid=18535208|bibcode=2008Sci...320.1502M|s2cid=11069781|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123133334/https://www3.uah.es/marodriguez/MARodriguez_Papers/Montoya_etal_2008_SCIENCE.pdf|archive-date=January 23, 2012}}</ref> Frugivores can also benefit from the invasion of exotic fruit-producing species and can be vectors of exotic invasion by dispersing non-native seeds.<ref name="Buckley">{{Cite journal|last1=Buckley|first1=Yvonne M.|last2=Anderson|first2=Sandra|last3=Catterall|first3=Carla P.|last4=Corlett|first4=Richard T.|last5=Engel|first5=Thomas|last6=Gosper|first6=Carl R.|last7=Nathan|first7=Ran|last8=Richardson|first8=David M.|last9=Setter|first9=Melissa|last10=Spiegel|first10=Orr|last11=Vivian-Smith|first11=Gabrielle|display-authors=1|date=August 4, 2006|title=Management of plant invasions mediated by frugivore interactions|journal=[[Journal of Applied Ecology]]|volume=43|issue=5|pages=848–857|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01210.x|jstor=i371304|doi-access=free|first12=Friederike A.|first13=Jacqueline E. S.|first14=David A.|last12=Voigt|last13=Weir|last14=Wescott|bibcode=2006JApEc..43..848B |hdl=10019.1/116975|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Consequently, anthropogenic habitat loss and change may negatively affect some frugivore species but benefit others.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}