Serengeti Birds Maintain Forests by Inhibiting Seed Predators Export

@article{citeulike:5402153, abstract = {Of fundamental interest in conservation ecology are the regulatory mechanisms that maintain communities. We document a mechanism that maintains forests in the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania, and the destabilization when disturbance opens forest canopy. Forest birds, by consuming seeds, protected them from beetle attack. Consumption increased the germination rate and the density of seedlings and recruits, which was sufficient to maintain the forest. Opening of the canopy resulted in loss of birds, increased beetle attack, and loss of germination. Thus, frugivorous birds are necessary for the maintenance of forests. Their absence could have resulted in the observed forest decline since 1966. 10.1126/science.1173805}, author = {Sharam, Gregory J. and Sinclair, A. R. E. and Turkington, Roy}, citeulike-article-id = {5402153}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1173805}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5936/51}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574381}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=19574381}, day = {3}, doi = {10.1126/science.1173805}, journal = {Science}, keywords = {birds, conservation, inpro, invertebrates, predation, seed}, month = {July}, number = {5936}, pages = {51+}, posted-at = {2009-08-10 00:30:06}, priority = {2}, title = {Serengeti Birds Maintain Forests by Inhibiting Seed Predators}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1173805}, volume = {325}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5402153 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5402153 N2 - Of fundamental interest in conservation ecology are the regulatory mechanisms that maintain communities. We document a mechanism that maintains forests in the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania, and the destabilization when disturbance opens forest canopy. Forest birds, by consuming seeds, protected them from beetle attack. Consumption increased the germination rate and the density of seedlings and recruits, which was sufficient to maintain the forest. Opening of the canopy resulted in loss of birds, increased beetle attack, and loss of germination. Thus, frugivorous birds are necessary for the maintenance of forests. Their absence could have resulted in the observed forest decline since 1966. 10.1126/science.1173805 IS - 5936 JF - Science TI - Serengeti Birds Maintain Forests by Inhibiting Seed Predators VL - 325 SP - 51 KW - birds KW - conservation KW - inpro KW - invertebrates KW - predation KW - seed AU - Sharam, Gregory AU - Sinclair, ARE AU - Turkington, Roy PY - 2009/07/03/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1173805 ER -