Depto de Biodiversidade

An application of the eSDE framework Data collection To illustrate the usefulness of our proposed extension and the kind of insights that can be gained from the eSDE framework, we searched published literature that reported suitable data for either of the four prominent plant–disperser interaction types: frugivores, folivores, scatter-hoarders and granivores. We started by searching the ISI Web of Science using combinations of ‘SDE' and ‘frugivor*', ‘scatter-hoard*', ‘herbivor*' or ‘granivor*'.

Abstract In the Neotropical region, euphonias (Euphonia spp., Fringillidae) are the quintessential example of specialized bird frugivores, making the bulk of feeding visits to certain mistletoes (Phoradendron spp., Santalaceae) and epiphytes in the genus Rhipsalis (Cactaceae), whose fruits have high water and low sugar and protein concentrations. Surprisingly, a mechanistic explanation for such specialized, otherwise rare, relationships is lacking.