Selection of Seeds of Common Native and Non-Native Plants by Granivorous Rodents in the Northeastern United States

Shahid, Amirah, Garneau, Danielle E., McCay, Timothy S., The American Midland Naturalist

ABSTRACT.

Post-dispersal seed predation by rodents represents a potentially important element of biotic resistance to plant invasion. Selection for five different types of seeds by granivorous rodents was studied in maple-beech forests, old fields and conifer plantations in Madison County, New York. Rodents visited dishes containing equal masses of seeds of the native Cornus amomum and Rubus idaeus, and the non-native Lonicera morrowii, Rhamnus cathartica and Rosa multiflora. Greater masses of C. amomum and R. idaeus seeds were consumed during a night of mammal visitation than of the three non-native species, and pattern of selection did not differ among habitats. Rodents …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Selection of Seeds of Common Native and Non-Native Plants by Granivorous Rodents in the Northeastern United States. Contributors: Shahid, Amirah - Author, Garneau, Danielle E. - Author, McCay, Timothy S. - Author. Journal title: The American Midland Naturalist. Volume: 162. Issue: 1 Publication date: July 2009. Page number: 207+. © 1995 University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Sciences. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.