Paolacci Simona, Jansen Marcel A K, Stejskal Vlastimil, Kelly Thomas C, Coughlan Neil E
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Ireland, T23 TK30.
Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Institute of Aquaculture, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Husova třida 458/102, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Mar 22;10(3):230090. doi: 10.1098/rsos.230090. eCollection 2023 Mar.
Avian vectors, such as ducks, swans and geese, are important dispersers of plant propagules. Until recently, it was thought that small vegetative propagules were reliant on adherence to vectors and are unlikely to survive passage through the avian digestive tract. Here, we conclusively demonstrate that metabolically active angiosperms can survive passage through the digestive tract of a large-bodied waterbird. In addition, we show that extended periods of air exposure for up to 7 days does not inhibit the survival of plantlets embedded in faecal matter. Following air exposure, plantlets ( = 3000) were recovered from 75 faecal samples of mute swans, , with the survival of 203 plantlets. The number of recovered and surviving plantlets did not significantly differ among durations of air exposure. For recovered plantlets, the long-term viability and clonal reproduction of two duckweed species, and , were confirmed following greater than eight months of growth. These data further amplify the key role of waterbirds as vectors for aquatic plant dispersal and demonstrate the internal transport (i.e. endozoochory) of metabolically active plantlets. These data suggest dispersal of vegetative plant propagules by avian vectors is likely to be a common occurrence, underpinning connectivity, range expansion and invasions of some aquatic plants.
鸭、天鹅和鹅等鸟类载体是植物繁殖体的重要传播者。直到最近，人们还认为小型营养繁殖体依赖于附着在载体上，并且不太可能在通过鸟类消化道后存活下来。在此，我们确凿地证明，具有代谢活性的被子植物能够在大型水鸟的消化道中存活。此外，我们表明，长达7天的长时间空气暴露并不会抑制嵌入粪便中的幼苗的存活。空气暴露后，从75份疣鼻天鹅粪便样本中回收了3000株幼苗，其中203株存活。在不同的空气暴露时长下，回收的和存活的幼苗数量没有显著差异。对于回收的幼苗，在生长超过八个月后，证实了两种浮萍（分别为[具体浮萍种类1]和[具体浮萍种类2]）的长期活力和克隆繁殖能力。这些数据进一步凸显了水鸟作为水生植物传播载体的关键作用，并证明了具有代谢活性的幼苗的内部运输（即动物体内传播）。这些数据表明，鸟类载体对营养性植物繁殖体的传播可能是一种常见现象，这为一些水生植物的连通性、范围扩展和入侵提供了支持。
