Abstract
The mutualistic interactions between frugivorous birds and their food plants are a staple of Neotropical ecosystems. Here, we review the major concepts and principles that govern interactions between Neotropical birds and plants. Morphological traits of birds such as beak size, morphology, and gut physiology interact with fruit traits such as the size of seeds and fruits, and the nutritional and chemical properties of fruit pulp to determine the identity of the dominant community-wide frugivory interactions that take place throughout Neotropical ecosystems. We discuss tradeoffs that occur between fruit handling capacity and seed dispersal efficiency of birds, as well as tradeoffs between the digestion of complex vs. simple nutrient classes, and the overall dietary composition and foraging strategies of birds and the implications to community processes. We also comment on the importance of Neotropical avian frugivores in shaping dynamics of forest regeneration and on the conservation status of the major families of Neotropical frugivores and conclude by identifying promising venues for future research in the field of frugivory and seed dispersal.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Biology Department of Penn State University and the U.S. National Science Foundation for supporting T.A. Carlo, and The Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), CAPES, and FAPESP for supporting P.H.S.A. Camargo, M.A. Pizo, and their collaboration with T.A. Carlo.
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TAC was funded by NSF DEB-1556719 when writing. PHSAC was financed by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. We also received financial support (2016/17194-0) from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). MAP received a research grant from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq).
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TAC conceived the idea and led the writing of the manuscript. PHSAC contributed to writing and compiled data tables and summaries. MAP contributed with writing and original data and analyses.
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Carlo, T.A., Camargo, P.H.S.A. & Pizo, M.A. Functional ecology of Neotropical frugivorous birds. Ornithol. Res. 30, 139–154 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-022-00093-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-022-00093-2