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Satiation of predispersal seed predators: the importance of considering both plant and seed levels

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Abstract

Plants can reduce the fitness costs of granivory by satiating seed predators. The most common satiation mechanism is the production of large crops, which ensures that a proportion of the seeds survive predation. Nevertheless, satiation of small granivores at the seed level may also exist. Larger seeds would satiate more efficiently, enhancing the probability of seed survival after having been attacked. However, a larger seed size could compromise the efficiency of satiation by means of large crops if there were a negative relationship between seed size and the number of seeds produced by an individual plant. We analyze both types of satiation in the interaction between the holm oak Quercus ilex and the chestnut weevil Curculio elephas. Both crop size and acorn size differed strongly in a sample of 32 trees. Larger crop sizes satiated weevils, and higher proportions of the seeds were not attacked as crop size increased. Larger seeds also satiated weevil larvae, as a larger acorn size increased the likelihood of embryo survival. Seedling size was strongly related to acorn size and was reduced by weevil attack, but seedlings coming from large weeviled acorns were still larger. The number and the size of the acorns produced by individual trees were negatively related. Larger proportions of the crop were infested in oaks producing less numerous crops of larger acorns. However, contrary to expectations, these trees did not satiate more effectively at the seed level either. Effective satiation by larger acorns was precluded by larger multi-infestation rates associated to smaller seed crops, in such a way that the proportion of attacked seeds that survived did not vary among trees with different acorn sizes. These results highlight the need of considering satiation by means of large crops and large seeds in studies of predispersal seed predation. Long-term monitoring on individual oaks will help to assess whether there is a trade-off between the number and the size of the acorns and, if it existed, how it could condition the fitness consequences of both types of satiation.

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Acknowledgments

Comments of F.J. Pulido, J.M. Gómez and two anonymous referees improved previous versions of this manuscript. L. Arroyo, B. Nicolau, A. Nicolau and N. Fermín helped with the field work. J. L. Fernández-Carrillo confirmed the identification of the weevil species. L. Muñoz helped us with the mathematical model. J. Jiménez allowed and provided facilities for field work at Cabañeros National Park. M. Díaz gave permission to perform the common garden experiment. This study was supported by the projects REN2003-07048/GLO of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, PAC-02-008 of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and 096/2002 of the Spanish Ministerio de Medio Ambiente. RB and AM were supported by fellowships from the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha.

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  1. Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain

    Raul Bonal, Alberto Muñoz & Mario Díaz

  2. Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD, London, UK

    Raul Bonal

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  1. Raul Bonal
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Correspondence to Raul Bonal.

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Bonal, R., Muñoz, A. & Díaz, M. Satiation of predispersal seed predators: the importance of considering both plant and seed levels. Evol Ecol 21, 367–380 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-006-9107-y

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