ENWC314 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Seed Predation, Coevolution, Herbivore

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Entomology and Wildlife Conservation
• Course: ENWC314
• Professor: York Joanna

Document Summary

9. 4 plant-animal interactions can be a cost or a benefit to plants: interactions that seem to be mutualistic or commensal may become competitive, overcompensation hypothesis for grazing. Many plant-animal interactions are beneficial to plants one good example of mutualism involves plant seed dispersal by animals. Many species of plants depend on birds and mammals for the dispersal of their seeds. Positive interactions leading to coevolution between plants and their seed predators may help to explain some features of plant reproductive biology and animal feeding habits. Coevolution may be seen particularly clearly in the evolution of fruits. Vertebrates eat these fruits and digest part of the material, but many of the seeds pass through the digestive system unharmed. Plants advertise fruits by a ripening process in which the fruits change color, taste and odor. Once fruits are ripe, they can be attacked by other damaging agents, such as fungi and bacteria, or by destructive feeders, who will not disperse the seeds.