Araucaria araucanas otherwise known as monkey puzzle trees are endangered trees in Chile and Argentina. The article, “Large-scale impacts of multiple co-occurring invaders on monkey puzzle forest regeneration, native seed predators and their ecological interactions” explores the impact communities of exotic mammals have on monkey puzzle forests. The authors conducted a study illustrated in this article where they recorded the amount of uneaten seeds and seedlings under 516 female monkey puzzle trees, by the end of winter, throughout the species’ distribution. This allowed them to identify indications of exotic species that visited each tree. The authors also analysed the foraging behaviour of Austral parakeets to get an indication of the potential indirect impacts of exotic mammals during seed dispersal. They found that seed predators made their way to all trees but one. Additionally, they found that Austral parakeets obtained seeds from 85% of the monkey puzzle trees and mice obtained seeds from 45% of the trees. The number of seeds and seedlings remaining was much larger compared to when exotic mammals also visited the trees in addition to the parakeets and mice as a minimum of 90% of the trees had exotic species coming by. Ultimately, their study concluded that proliferation of exotic mammals can result in the reduction in native seed predators and the regeneration of monkey puzzle forests. This is due to the reduced seed availability and seedling survival as well as the disrupted dispersal process and can continue being impactful as long as exotic mammal invasions are managed accordingly.
References:
Tella, José L., et al. “Large-Scale Impacts of Multiple Co-Occurring Invaders on Monkey Puzzle Forest Regeneration, Native Seed Predators and Their Ecological Interactions.” Global Ecology and Conservation, Elsevier, 3 Feb. 2016, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415300275.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 