Different chemical composition in fruit- and seed-bearing trees due to bird droppings (evolutionary implications)

Some winters I install a feeder for the birds in the garden. The activity is moderate because I cannot invest as much in abundant supplies. However, as the snow melts but the ground is yet unfrozen, I observe many tiny droppings scattered around the tree. As the soil unfreezes, these droppings would become accessible to …

How do ungulates recognize edible vs. inedible plants?

Young fawns, calves, wild lambs, kids, foals etc. probably learn the basics of their diet from their mother during the period while the little one is following the mother 'on the heel' and/or foraging within the herd. Herding ungulates that form mother-offspring unit groups probably also relay such experience-based knowledge on the group level as …

Large ungulate bud baths and nutrient dispersal

Numerous trail camera videos reveal the so-called 'mud SPAs' in forested or slightly more open (but, frequently, tree surrounded) sites where many mammals including such large ungulates as the red deer or wild boar wallow and splash around and overall cover themselves in mud which probably serves for cooling, skin- and hair-protective and possibly also …

Were semi-natural habitats always nutrient poor?

One of the gravest issues that many natural and semi-natural habitats are facing nowadays is related to eutrophication, i.e., overabundance of nutrients resulting in shifting dominance relationships between plant species, altered vegetation composition and the subsequent changes in any associated fauna, fungi etc. My post has not been written with the purpose of justifying or …

Circadian rhythms in plant activity – possible effects on herbivores

I have been reading curious research regarding, e.g., diel activity patters by large herbivores and omnivores and how these patterns sometimes do not follow the current predation risk exposure. For example, wild boar that have not even evolved adaptations with respect to night vision (tapetum lucidum), still retain nocturnal activity patterns in areas where large …

Grassland restoration – how to remove excess nutrients but not to remove essential micronutrients?

I have been following the grassland rewilding discussions and scientific developments. Grassland restoration is based on rotational, non-intensive mowing/grazing that is organized once or twice per growing season - usually, in autumn or even early winter. Sometimes plant biomass is also removed in spring in order to activate seed germination and to promote seedling establishment …

Effects of predator den/nest sites on the host tree’s health and regeneration

This is not as much theory as it is a contemplation on the possible effects that the provisioning of optimal (and actively and/or regularly inhabited) dens/nests of mammalian predators or birds of prey might bear on the occupied tree's health and regeneration. The reason why it is not a theory lies with the very dynamic …

Could herbivore intraguild activities involve a self-regulating mechanism under natural conditions?

As I have been reading on plant secondary metabolites and other antiherbivory strategies in plants (a nice review can be found in the publication by Iason, G., 2007), I have begun wondering whether the interactions between different taxa and plants could result in a certain herbivory regulation mechanism where some herbivory agents induce changes in …

Rooting activity by mammals and fungal organism dispersal – with the focus on vegetation community regeneration, colonization and succession dynamics

This post was inspired, once more, by wild boar as I have been considering their beneficial effects on ecosystems. However, rooting activity (and, indeed, burrowing activity or other types of foraging that result in disturbance at the root level) is performed by many other species that can be herbivores (cervids, voles etc.), omnivores (bears etc.) …