Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as dispersers of Retama monosperma seeds in a coastal dune system

Claudia M. Dellafiore; Sara Muñoz Vallés; Juan B. Gallego Fernández

doi:10.2980/1195-6860(2006)13[5:ROCADO]2.0.CO;2

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1 March 2006 Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as dispersers of Retama monosperma seeds in a coastal dune system

Claudia M. Dellafiore, Sara Muñoz Vallés, Juan B. Gallego Fernández

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Ecoscience, 13(1):5-10 (2006). https://doi.org/10.2980/1195-6860(2006)13[5:ROCADO]2.0.CO;2

Abstract

The role of wild rabbit in Retama monosperma seed dispersal was studied in a sand dune spit in coastal Lepe County, Huelva, Spain. Of 8301 randomly collected rabbit pellets, 2.4% contained R. monosperma seeds. The percentage of pellets containing seeds was significantly higher in summer and autumn. Germination of seeds from pellets (24%) was significantly higher than that of seeds extracted from fruits (13%). The R. monosperma seed shadow extended to all dune ridges surveyed in the active colonization zone; rabbit pellets with R. monosperma seeds were found in dune ridges not yet colonized by R. monosperma shrubs. Rabbit dispersal activities are one of the main causes of R. monosperma spread along El Rompido spit.

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Claudia M. Dellafiore, Sara Muñoz Vallés, and Juan B. Gallego Fernández "Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as dispersers of Retama monosperma seeds in a coastal dune system," Ecoscience 13(1), 5-10, (1 March 2006). https://doi.org/10.2980/1195-6860(2006)13[5:ROCADO]2.0.CO;2

Received: 25 October 2004; Accepted: 24 May 2005; Published: 1 March 2006

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