Published 2004
| Version v1
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Phenology of neotropical pepper plants (Piperaceae) and their association with their main dispersers, two short‐tailed fruit bats, Carollia perspicillata and C. castanea (Phyllostomidae)
Creators
Description
(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) To relate differences in phenological strategies of a group of closely related plants to biotic (pollinators, dispersers) and abiotic (water, light) factors, we studied leafing, flowering, and fruiting phenology of 12 species of
Piper
(Piperaceae) in a neotropical lowland forest in Panama for 28 months. We asked how
Piper
may partition time and vertebrate frugivores to minimize possible competition for dispersal agents. Based on habitat preferences and physiological characteristics we discriminate between forest
Piper
species (eight species) and gap
Piper
species (four species). Forest
Piper
species flowered synchronously mostly at the end of the dry season. Gap
Piper
species had broader or multiple flowering peaks distributed throughout the year with a trend towards the wet season. Both groups of
Piper
species showed continuous fruit production. Fruiting peaks of forest
Piper
species were short and staggered. Gap
Piper
species had extended fruiting seasons with multiple or broad peaks. Both groups of
Piper
species also differed in their time of ripening and disperser spectrum. Forest
Piper
species ripened in late afternoon and had a narrow spectrum consisting mainly of two species of frugivorous bats:
Carollia perspicillata
and
C. castanea (Phyllostomidae)
. Fruits of gap
Piper
species, in contrast, ripened early in the morning and were eaten by a broader range of diurnal and nocturnal visitors, including bats, birds, and ants. We conclude that the differences in flowering phenology of forest and gap
Piper
species are primarily caused by abiotic factors, particularly the availability of water and light, whereas differences in fruiting patterns are mostly influenced by biotic factors. The staggered fruiting pattern of forest
Piper
species may reflect competition for a limited spectrum of dispersers. The long and overlapping fruiting periods of gap
Piper
species are associated with a larger spectrum of dispersers and may be a strategy to overcome the difficulty of seed dispersal into spatially unpredictable germination sites with suitable light conditions.
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Additional details
Identifiers
- URL
- hash://md5/560f45e5330bcfe386e688c8819ff6d4
- URN
- urn:lsid:zotero.org:groups:5435545:items:FV44UWS6
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12747.x
Biodiversity
- Class
- Mammalia
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Phylum
- Chordata