Double Mutualism Between the Black-crowned Palm-Tanager (Passeriformes, Pheanicophilidae, Phaenicophilus palmarum) and the Beach Creeper (Rubiaceae, Ernodea littoralis) on Hispaniola, Greater Antilles, Caribbean
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Double Mutualism Between the Black-crowned Palm-Tanager (Passeriformes, Pheanicophilidae, Phaenicophilus palmarum) and the Beach Creeper (Rubiaceae, Ernodea littoralis) on Hispaniola, Greater Antilles, Caribbean. / Møller-Stranges, Fredrik; Maj Hedegaard, Line; Dalsgaard, Bo.
In: Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 51, No. 1, 2021, p. 86-91.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Double Mutualism Between the Black-crowned Palm-Tanager (Passeriformes, Pheanicophilidae, Phaenicophilus palmarum) and the Beach Creeper (Rubiaceae, Ernodea littoralis) on Hispaniola, Greater Antilles, Caribbean
AU - Møller-Stranges, Fredrik
AU - Maj Hedegaard, Line
AU - Dalsgaard, Bo
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Double mutualism describes the situation where two species interact for the benefit of both in more than one type of interaction. For instance, if a given plant species is both pollinated and has its seeds dispersed by the same animal species. Double mutualism is thought to be more present in ecosystems where organisms are generalized, such as on oceanic islands. In the Caribbean islands, double mutualism has only been reported four times, of which only one involves a bird, between the widespread Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) and the plant Cordia bicolor (Boraginaceae) on the continental island of Tobago. Here, for the first time, we report an observation of double mutualistic behaviour of a bird on Caribbean oceanic islands: The Black-crowned Tanager (Phaenicophilus palmarum), a bird endemic to Hispaniola, and the widespread plant Beach Creeper (Ernodea littoralis, Rubiaceae). Whereas hummingbirds and insects were more frequent visitors to the flowers of E. littoralis compared to P. palmarum, only P. palmarum was observed as a seed-disperser of E. littoralis. Based on our observations, we conclude that P. palmarum and E. littoralis show double mutualistic behaviour, though more detailed studies are needed to quantify the importance of this mutualistic behaviour, both from the bird's point of view and from the plant's point of view regarding the effectiveness of P. palmarum as pollinator and seed-disperser, respectively. We believe that double mutualism has been overlooked in the Caribbean, and, thus, we hope our observations will stimulate research into the importance of double mutualism across the Caribbean.
AB - Double mutualism describes the situation where two species interact for the benefit of both in more than one type of interaction. For instance, if a given plant species is both pollinated and has its seeds dispersed by the same animal species. Double mutualism is thought to be more present in ecosystems where organisms are generalized, such as on oceanic islands. In the Caribbean islands, double mutualism has only been reported four times, of which only one involves a bird, between the widespread Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) and the plant Cordia bicolor (Boraginaceae) on the continental island of Tobago. Here, for the first time, we report an observation of double mutualistic behaviour of a bird on Caribbean oceanic islands: The Black-crowned Tanager (Phaenicophilus palmarum), a bird endemic to Hispaniola, and the widespread plant Beach Creeper (Ernodea littoralis, Rubiaceae). Whereas hummingbirds and insects were more frequent visitors to the flowers of E. littoralis compared to P. palmarum, only P. palmarum was observed as a seed-disperser of E. littoralis. Based on our observations, we conclude that P. palmarum and E. littoralis show double mutualistic behaviour, though more detailed studies are needed to quantify the importance of this mutualistic behaviour, both from the bird's point of view and from the plant's point of view regarding the effectiveness of P. palmarum as pollinator and seed-disperser, respectively. We believe that double mutualism has been overlooked in the Caribbean, and, thus, we hope our observations will stimulate research into the importance of double mutualism across the Caribbean.
KW - POLLINATION
KW - PATTERNS
KW - RESOURCE
KW - ECOLOGY
KW - BASIN
U2 - 10.18475/cjos.v51i1.a10
DO - 10.18475/cjos.v51i1.a10
M3 - Journal article
VL - 51
SP - 86
EP - 91
JO - Caribbean Journal of Science
JF - Caribbean Journal of Science
SN - 0008-6452
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 291294689