Davos / Germination Experiment 2023

Seed dispersal is a key component in a plant’s life cycle, allowing the colonization of new habitat and eventually enabling range shifts. Hence, variation in the behavior of dispersing animals has direct effects on the fate of the dispersed seeds. However, there is little empirical evidence on how behavioral differences between individuals can affect seed dispersal. Here we investigated the effects of individual behavior on seed dispersal by analyzing movement data of GPS-tagged spotted nutcrackers, which harvest and store seeds of Swiss stone pine for later consumption. Over a period of four years, we examined the movement patterns of 35 GPS-tagged nutcrackers during the time of seed-harvesting in fall. To assess individual behavioral patterns, we compared hourly geographical displacement across individuals. We found that the birds can be classified into two distinct behavioral types: short-distance dispersers and long-distance dispersers. These types were not associated with body mass, relative wing length or sex. Further, short- and long-distance dispersers differed in dispersal distance and deposited seeds in habitat of different quality, which has strong implications for the regeneration potential of the pine. Our results emphasize that individual behavior of seed-dispersing animals should be considered in future studies to better understand plant regeneration dynamics.