SEED DISPERSAL BY MIGRATORY BIRDS TO NEW CLIMATE

The fast pace of global warming is not only changing the temperatures but also, the habitats of the living things. Some animals can adopt to swift climate change more easily. But plants which are immobile will need external factors such as winds, water or seed dispensing animals. But this redistribution typically occurs within one kilometer of the original plant. This article discusses the effects of the migratory birds those which disperse the seeds of the plants to the new climates.

When the climate in a plant’s usual range becomes hotter than it can put up with, it must colonize new, cooler areas that might lie many kilometers away. It is still vague that how plants distribute their seeds across great distances. According to studies by González-Varo, long distance seed dispersal may occur through transport by migratory birds. Such birds ingest viable seeds when eating fruit and can move them tens or hundreds of kilometers outside the range of a plant species. In this type of dispersal, seeds remain unharmed even after they are digested by birds. After defecation, the process provides fertilizer that aids plant growth. Hence, seed is transported by bird and plant starts to live in a different habitat.

Fleshy fruits were chosen to be studied since most of their seed transport is by migratory birds, and because fleshy fruited plants are an important component of the woody-plant community in Europe. In accordance with the study, 949 different seed-dispersal interactions between bird and plant communities, together with data on entire fruiting times and migratory patterns of birds were found across Europe. González-Varo and colleagues found that 86% of plant species studied might have seeds dispersed by birds during their trip to south which is drier and hotter in autumn. whereas only about one-third of the plant species might be dispersed by birds migrating north in spring.

visual source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01547-1

In brief, this study provides a great example of how migratory birds might assist plant redistribution to new places that would normally be almost impossible for them to reach on their own. As our planet warms, these kinds of studies will be guiding lights for us in the ever-changing climate.

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