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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30497
Title: | Modelling mycorrhizal fungi dispersal by the mycophagous swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) | Contributor(s): | Danks, Melissa A (author); Simpson, Natalie (author); Elliott, Todd F (author)![]() ![]() ![]() |
Publication Date: | 2020-12 | Early Online Version: | 2020-10 | Open Access: | Yes | DOI: | 10.1002/ece3.6873 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30497 | Abstract: | Despite the importance of mammal-fungal interactions, tools to estimate the mammal-assisted dispersal distances of fungi are lacking. Many mammals actively consume fungal fruiting bodies, the spores of which remain viable after passage through their digestive tract. Many of these fungi form symbiotic relationships with trees and provide an array of other key ecosystem functions. We present a flexible, general model to predict the distance a mycophagous mammal would disperse fungal spores. We modeled the probability of spore dispersal by combining animal movement data from GPS telemetry with data on spore gut-retention time. We test this model using an exemplar generalist mycophagist, the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor). We show that swamp wallabies disperse fungal spores hundreds of meters - and occasionally up to 1,265 m - from the point of consumption, distances that are ecologically significant for many mycorrhizal fungi. In addition to highlighting the ecological importance of swamp wallabies as dispersers of mycorrhizal fungi in eastern Australia, our simple modeling approach provides a novel and effective way of empirically describing spore dispersal by a mycophagous animal. This approach is applicable to the study of other animal-fungi interactions in other ecosystems. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Grant Details: | ARC/DP0557022 | Source of Publication: | Ecology and Evolution, 10(23), p. 12920-12928 | Publisher: | John Wiley & Sons Ltd | Place of Publication: | United Kingdom | ISSN: | 2045-7758 | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 060201 Behavioural Ecology 060208 Terrestrial Ecology |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 310301 Behavioural ecology 310308 Terrestrial ecology |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 960806 Forest and Woodlands Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 180606 Terrestrial biodiversity | Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article School of Environmental and Rural Science |
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openpublished/ModelingDanksSimpsonElliottPaineVernes2020JournalArticle.pdf | Published version | 524.42 kB | Adobe PDF Download Adobe | View/Open |
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