Over the limit: Consequences of gray squirrel personality on the shifting range limits of oak and hickory species

IF 3.5 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Global Ecology and Conservation Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03539

Margaret R. Merz , Francesca Colombini , Alessio Mortelliti

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Many trees must shift their ranges to track changing climate conditions, but their movement often depends on animal dispersers, which are overlooked in range shift predictions. We addressed this knowledge gap by assessing the dispersal of novel (i.e., not previously encountered) seeds by gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and analyzing intraspecific variation in dispersal decisions. We established a field experiment spanning the northern range limits of multiple oak (Quercus) and hickory (Carya) species in Northeastern USA and measured personality of 222 squirrels, further recording seed decisions by 50 individuals. Squirrels dispersed novel seeds, illustrating their critical role in tree range shifts, with sociality and weight mediating decisions. Seed novelty mediated certain decisions such as the consumption of removed seeds, while other decisions were consistent regardless of novelty. Overall, individuals contributed to novel seed dispersal differently based on personality, highlighting the need to preserve behavioral diversity to facilitate tree range shifts.

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超过极限：灰松鼠性格对橡树和山核桃物种迁移范围限制的影响

许多树木必须改变它们的活动范围以适应不断变化的气候条件，但它们的运动往往取决于动物的分散，这在范围变化预测中被忽视了。我们通过评估灰松鼠（Sciurus carolinensis）对新（即以前未遇到的）种子的传播和分析传播决策的种内变化来解决这一知识差距。我们在美国东北部建立了一个跨越多种橡树（Quercus）和山核桃（Carya）物种北部范围的野外实验，测量了222只松鼠的个性，并进一步记录了50只松鼠的种子决定。松鼠散播新的种子，说明了它们在树木范围变化中的关键作用，社会性和体重调节决策。种子的新颖性影响了某些决定，如食用被移除的种子，而其他决定则与新颖性无关。总体而言，个体对新种子传播的贡献基于个性的不同，这突出了保持行为多样性以促进树木范围转移的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Global Ecology and Conservation Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

5.00%

发文量

346

审稿时长

83 days

期刊介绍： Global Ecology and Conservation is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal covering all sub-disciplines of ecological and conservation science: from theory to practice, from molecules to ecosystems, from regional to global. The fields covered include: organismal, population, community, and ecosystem ecology; physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology; and conservation science.