Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Frugivory and seed dispersal: ecological and evolutionary aspects

  • Book
  • © 1993

Overview

Editors:
  1. T. H. Fleming
    View editor publications

    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. A. Estrada
    View editor publications

    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Advances in Vegetation Science (AIVS, volume 15)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (26 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

Any scientific discipline needs a theoretical framework to guide its development and to sharpen the questions its researchers pursue. In biology, evolution is the grand theoretical framework, and an his­ torical perspective is necessary to understand present-day biological conditions. In its formative years, the modern study of the fruit-frugivore mutualism was guided by the 'specialist-generalist' paradigm developed by D. Snow, D. McKey, and H. Howe. Howe reviews the current status of this evolution­ ary paradigm and points out that it has been dismissed by many workers before being adequately tested. This is because ecologists working with the tropical plants and frugivorous birds for which the paradigm was originally developed rarely measure the seed dispersal effectiveness of different disperser species. He indicates that this paradigm still has heuristic value and suggests that several additional ecological paradigms, including the concept ofkeystone species ofplants and frugivores and the role that frugivores play in density-dependent mortality in tropical trees, are worth studying. The concept of seed dispersal quality has been central to discussions of fruit-frugivore coevolution. Schupp thoroughly reviews data bearing on this concept, constructs a hierarchical framework for viewing disperser effectiveness, and points out that disperser effectiveness depends on both the quantity and quality of seed dispersal. Effectiveness, in turn, affects both evolutionary and ecological relationships between dispersers and their food plants.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Frugivory and seed dispersal: ecological and evolutionary aspects

  • Editors: T. H. Fleming, A. Estrada

  • Series Title: Advances in Vegetation Science

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1749-4

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1993

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-2141-5Published: 30 June 1993

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-010-4767-8Published: 16 October 2012

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-011-1749-4Published: 06 December 2012

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 392

  • Topics: Applied Ecology, Plant Sciences, Ecology, Tree Biology, Evolutionary Biology

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation