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Seed Dispersal in South African Trees: with a Focus on the Megafaunal Fruit and Their Dispersal Agents

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Seed Dispersal in South African Trees: with a Focus on the Megafaunal Fruit and Their Dispersal Agents Seed Dispersal in South African Trees: with a focus on the megafaunal fruit and their dispersal agents Katherine Bunney Town Cape of University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a degree of Master of Science Supervisor: Prof. William J. Bond Botany Department University of Cape Town Rondebosch 7701 February 2014 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University Preface I know the meaning of Plagarism and declare that all of the work in the document, save for that which is properly acknowledged, is my own. i Acknowledgements To William, thank you for your tireless dedication and boundless enthusiasm. It has been a privilege to have had you as my supervisor. I would like to thank the ‘Save the Elephants’ Foundation in general and Michelle Henley in particular for the use of their data that has been almost a decade in the making. Michelle, thanks for having me at the research camp and for the stimulating conversations. I am grateful to both Keith Howick and Andre Kotze at Elephant Whispers for helping to setup and ensure the smooth running of my elephant feeding trials. You really made us feel at home. Les Powrie, thank you so much for all the time you spent assisting me with my spatial data. Your patience and guidance is much appreciated. Katja Mauf, thank you for assisting me in the manipulation of two large unwieldy datasets. To my Mum, thank you for helping me with the elephant feeding trials – you really kept our spirits high while we were up to our elbows in elephant dung. To my brother with whom I share a love of the African bush, thank you for your interest and encouragement. Last but not least, thanks and love to my husband Alon for his tolerance, engagement and unwavering support. Financial support was supplied by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the National Research Foundation of South Africa. ii Table of Contents Preface......................................................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents....................................................................................................................................................iii Chapter 1: Introduction.............................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: The seed dispersal spectrum of South African trees: distribution patterns and a cross-continental comparison...............................................................................................................................................................7 Introduction..............................................................................................................................................................8 Methods..................................................................................................................................................................11 Floristic Data............................................................................................................................................11 Dispersal Mechanisms.............................................................................................................................12 Dispersal Spectra Analyses.....................................................................................................................13 Cross-Continental Comparison................................................................................................................14 Results...................................................................................................................................................................20 Dispersal Spectra across the biomes ......................................................................................................20 Seed Mass...............................................................................................................................................29 Cross-Continental Comparison................................................................................................................31 Discussion..............................................................................................................................................................37 Dispersal Spectra and Growth Form........................................................................................................37 Geographical and Environmental Trends................................................................................................38 Cross-Continental Comparisons..............................................................................................................41 Conclusion..............................................................................................................................................................41 Chapter 3: The megafaunal fruit of South Africa: exploring the patterns that underlie their distribution................42 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................43 Methods..................................................................................................................................................................48 Classification of Megafaunal Fruit............................................................................................................48 Statistics...................................................................................................................................................49 Distribution Data......................................................................................................................................49 Historical Elephant Distributions..............................................................................................................49 Environmental Data.................................................................................................................................49 Elephant and Baboon Dispersal..............................................................................................................50 iii Results...................................................................................................................................................................51 The Megafaunal Fruit of South Africa......................................................................................................51 Distribution of Megafaunal Fruit ..............................................................................................................59 The Historical Spread of Megafauna.......................................................................................................63 Position of Plants along Major Environmental Gradients.........................................................................67 The Service that Elephants versus Baboons Provide the Megafaunal Fruit............................................72 Discussion..............................................................................................................................................................76 Patterns Underlying the Distribution of Megafaunal Fruit.........................................................................76 The Service that Elephants and Baboons Offer.......................................................................................78 Conclusion..............................................................................................................................................................81 Chapter 4: Bush elephants – long haul carriers of the savanna: the seed dispersal kernel of the African savanna elephant..................................................................................................................................................................83 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................84 Methods..................................................................................................................................................................86 Identification of Megafaunal Fruit Proxies and Seed Passage Experiments.............................................................................................................................................86 Telemetry and Movement Analysis....................................................................................................................................................87 Simulation Model and Dispersal Curve Estimation................................................................................................................................................87 Sensitivity Analysis..................................................................................................................................88
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