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The Effects of Urbanization on Avian Seed Dispersal Success of Toxicodendron Radicans (Anacardiaceae)

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The Effects of Urbanization on Avian Seed Dispersal Success of Toxicodendron Radicans (Anacardiaceae) East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 8-2019 The Effects of Urbanization on Avian Seed Dispersal Success of Toxicodendron radicans (Anacardiaceae) Amber M. Stanley East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Stanley, Amber M., "The Effects of Urbanization on Avian Seed Dispersal Success of Toxicodendron radicans (Anacardiaceae)" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3619. https://dc.etsu.edu/ etd/3619 This Thesis - unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Effects of Urbanization on Avian Seed Dispersal Success of Toxicodendron radicans (Anacardiaceae) _____________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Biology _____________________ by Amber Stanley August 2019 _____________________ Dr. Gerardo Arceo-Gómez, Chair Dr. Fred J. Alsop III Dr. Istvan Karsai Dr. Rebecca Pyles Keywords: Urbanization, Toxicodendron radicans, seed dispersal, plant-animal interactions, ornithochory ABSTRACT The Effects of Urbanization on Avian Seed Dispersal Success of Toxicodendron radicans (Anacardiaceae) by Amber Stanley Urbanization is increasing at a dramatic rate as the human population increases. While it is well- known that urbanization tends to decrease species diversity (i.e., biotic homogenization), it is not known how urbanization affects the frequency and efficiency of species interactions. Seed dispersal is a plant-animal interaction that depends on disperser feeding rate, disperser diversity, probability of seed dispersal and germination. How these factors are affected by urbanization however is unknown. In this study, we evaluate how urbanization alters these factors. Urban sites had 2x higher feeding rate and 3x higher number of disperser species. The probability of seed dispersal however was the same between natural and urban sites. Moreover, the probability of germination after dispersal was 20% lower in urban sites, leading to overall negative effects of urbanization on T. radicans seed dispersal. In this study we demonstrated that urbanization can affect species diversity, as well as their ecological functions. 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Arceo-Gomez, Dr. Alsop, Dr. Pyles, and Dr. Karsai for agreeing to be on my committee. Thank you all for your encouragement, patience, and guidance. I would also like to give credit my labmates who assisted me in this project. Thanks are due to Daniel Barker, Jesse Daniels, and Cheril Patel for risking poison ivy rashes to help me, when I know you were itching to be anywhere else. Stephen Duncan, Rachel Herrmann, and Amelia Schroeder (in addition to the three mentioned above), I thank for helping me assemble seed traps. Thank you also to all of my friends in the Department of Biology who supported me. Thanks are also due to Kevin Brooks for assisting me in data collection during the second field season. At least we didn’t get shot at. Thank you to the Department of Biological Sciences for the Graduate Teaching Assistantship; without which I could not have joined the Master’s program. I am also grateful for the teaching experience, and I have learned many invaluable lessons from it. Thank you to the Department of Biological Sciences at ETSU for the Marcia Davis Research Grant. Thank you to the School of Graduate Studies at ETSU for the School of Graduate Studies Research Grant. Thank you to the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society for the Marcia Davis Memorial Grant. Without these funds, I would not have been able to conduct a second field season. Thank you to Chris Stoehrel of the Forest Service for helping me gain permission to use sites in the Cherokee National Forest. Thank you to Riki Forney and the Town of Erwin for giving me permission to use the Erwin site. Thank you to Dr. Darrell Moore for permission to use the old Marine Corps Armory as an urban site. Thank you to my family, who supported me from the sidelines during this journey. A special thanks to my three roommates (they know who they are) who put up with my busy schedule and provided the means of transportation to all of my study sites. I love you guys! 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ 3 LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 8 Urbanization .......................................................................................................... 8 Effects of Urbanization ............................................................................ 9 Biotic Homogenization ........................................................................................ 9 Species Interactions ............................................................................................ 11 Plant-Animal Interactions—Seed Dispersal .......................................... 11 Questions & Hypotheses .................................................................................... 12 2. MANUSCRIPT FORMATTED FOR SUBMISSION TO ECOLOGY .............................. 15 ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... 15 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 16 METHODS ......................................................................................................... 19 Study Organism ...................................................................................... 19 Study Sites .............................................................................................. 20 Feeding Rate and Disperser Community Composition .......................... 23 4 Probability of Seed Dispersal ................................................................. 24 Differences in Germination Between Natural and Urban Sites .............. 26 Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 28 RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 29 Sampling Effort ...................................................................................... 29 Resource Availability ............................................................................. 30 Seed Marking ......................................................................................... 31 Feeding Rate .......................................................................................... 32 Disperser Community Composition ...................................................... 32 Probability of Seed Dispersal ................................................................. 34 Differences in Germination .................................................................... 34 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................... 37 Feeding Rate ........................................................................................... 37 Disperser Community Composition ....................................................... 38 Probability of Seed Dispersal ................................................................. 38 Differences in Germination .................................................................... 39 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... 41 LITERATURE CITED ...................................................................................... 41 3. SUMMARY & FUTURE DIRECTIONS ........................................................................... 50 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 55 APPENDIX A: List of Birds Observed Feeding on Poison Ivy in this Study ........................... 66 VITA .......................................................................................................................................... 67 5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 Field Sites................................................................................................................................ 21 2.2 Map of Field Sites ................................................................................................................... 22 2.3 Average Percent Cover of Natural and Urban Sites ............................................................... 23 2.4 Unmarked and UV Fluorescent Marked Fruits ....................................................................... 25 2.5 Seed Trap ...............................................................................................................................
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