Ecological benefits of myrmecochory for the endangered chaparral shrub Fremontodendron decumbens (Sterculiaceae)

Abstract

Fremontodendron decumbens grows in a single county in central California, USA. Prior research showed that its elaiosome-bearing seeds are dispersed by the harvester ant Messor andrei. I tested several hypotheses regarding the positive role of ant-mediated dispersal to F. decumbens: (1) Does ant-mediated seed dispersal facilitate seed escape from rodent predation?; (2) Does ant processing of seeds stimulate germination?; (3) Are ant middens more suitable microsites for seed or seedling survival in unburned chaparral areas?; and (4) Do survival benefits of dispersal occur post-fire in the form of differences in seedling survival probabilities and, if so, why? Results of tests of each hypothesis were: (1) similar percentages of seeds placed on ant middens and under F. decumbens shrub canopies were destroyed by rodents, but seeds from which elaiosomes had been removed were more likely to escape rodent predation; (2) seeds processed by ants did not germinate more readily than seeds removed directly from shrub branches; (3) seedling predation was a major cause of mortality in unburned chaparral on both ant middens and under shrubs, and overall seedling survival did not differ between the two microsites; (4) post-burn seedling survival was significantly greater for seedlings dispersed away from F. decumbens shrub canopies, because dispersed seedlings were both less likely to be killed by predators and more likely to be growing in a gap created by the fire-caused death of an established shrub. I concluded that the major ecological benefit to F. decumbens of ant-mediated seed dispersal was elevated post-fire seedling survival resulting from enhanced escape by dispersed seedlings from both predation and competition.