Avian Fruit Removal: Effects of Fruit Variation, Crop Size, and Insect Damage

Negative indirect effects of an avian insectivore on the fruit set of an insect-pollinated herb

Though an abundance of research has focused on direct interactions between birds and plants, relatively few studies have reported on indirect interactions. Of those reports, all have focused on positive indirect effects of birds on plants through predation of plant natural enemies. We conducted an observational study along the Middle Rio Grande in New Mexico to determine if avian aerial insecti...

Cultivar and fruit size influence bruise susceptibility and some physical properties of apple fruit

ABSTRACT- For most fruit types, including apples, bruising is the most common type of postharvest mechanical injury. Bruise susceptibility was investigated in 3 commercial cultivars (‘JazzTM’, ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Fuji’) and among a range of 4 different fruit sizes (commercial counts of 135, 120, 100, and 88) in each cultivar. Bruising was carried out by dropping a uniform round steel ball (110g...

The effect of fruit competition and leaf area on fruit size of strawberry

Fruit size in wild olives: implications for avian seed dispersal

Frugivorous birds in the Mediterranean basin may disperse seeds using two different feeding behaviours: swallowing the fruit whole or pecking pieces of pulp. Swallowing is the common behaviour of frugivorous seed dispersers in the Mediterranean basin (Herrera 1984a) and most of the fleshy-fruited plants in the region rely on this bird feeding behaviour to disperse their seeds (Herrera 1984b, 19...

The Strength and Drivers of Bird-Mediated Selection on Fruit Crop Size: A Meta-Analysis

In seed-dispersal mutualisms, the number of fruit a plant displays is a key trait, as it acts as a signal for seed dispersers that entails fruit removal and exportation of reproductive units (fruit crop size hypothesis). Although this hypothesis has gained general acceptance, forces driving the shape and strength of natural selection exerted by birds on fruit crop size remains an unresolved mat...