Food habits of European rabbit and its role as seed dispersal of two Mosqueta roses: Facilitation among non-native species in a semiarid protected area of Argentina?

BOBADILLA, S. YASMIN; MARCHETTA, A.; DACAR, M. A.; OJEDA, R. A.; CUEVAS, M. F.

BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS

SPRINGER

Año: 2020 vol. 22 p. 1565 - 1571

1387-3547

Herbivore and plant invasions can modifythe structure and functioning of ecosystems throughpositive interactions that facilitate their mutual establishment. An important consequence of the feedingbehaviour of rabbits is that they can play a key role inseed dispersal by endozoochory. We examined the dietand potential for dispersing Rosa rubiginosa and R.canina (Rosa spp.) of European rabbits introduced in asemiarid protected area of Argentina. We found entireseeds in 100% of the samples of Rosa spp. analysed(n = 11, 187 pellets). Our results indicate that thepassage of Rosa spp. seeds through the digestive tractof rabbits (64%) did not diminish their viability incomparison to the seeds taken directly from fruits(66%) (v2 = 0.09, p[ 0.05). This study has identifiednew positive interactions between an invasive mammal and two invasive plants, a finding that suggeststhat these invader complexes could have a reciprocaleffect on one another, which would potentially aidtheir invasive process in a semiarid protected area ofArgentina.