The Secrets of Seed Dispersal: Hidden In Turtle Poop

This post was written by QBIC sophomore Emmanuel Medrano.

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Liu, Hong, Steven G. Platt, and Christopher K. Borg. "Seed Dispersal by the Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri) in Pine Rockland Forests of the Lower Florida Keys, United States." Oecologia 138.4 (2004): 539-46. 

For animals, it is easy to move between different locations. If they find themselves in an environment they do not like, they can simply migrate to other areas where they may be able to find more food or mates. As a result, populations of animals can occupy a great area of land. Plants, on the other hand, are incapable of this sort of dispersion. As they say, “the apple does not fall far from the tree”. However, plants are in luck, because animals can and do eat apples and other types of fruits. While in the stomach, the fruit becomes digested but the seed remains intact. This seed can then be excreted by the animal, and voila, the seed has moved.

Extrafloral Nectar: Understanding Ant bodyguard pay.

This post was contributed by QBIC Sophomore, Renata Gallegos.

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Jones IM and Koptur S (2015). Dynamic extrafloral nectar production: The timing of leaf damage affects the defensive response in Senna mexicana var. chapmanii (Fabaceae). American Journal of Botany 101(1): 58-66.

Plants are sessile organisms incapable of movement and unable to escape their predators, of which they have many. If left unprotected, particular plants can lose up to 40% of their biomass to a single species of insect alone. To compensate for their immobility, plants have developed a variety of indirect defenses, one such example being extrafloral nectar (EFNs). An EFN is a solution of sugars secreted by glands found outside of the flower. While a large variety of arthropods (animals such as insects) are attracted to this sweet solution, its potential is truly exploited only when discovered by ants. EFN is produced for the ants in exchange for their services in fending off herbivores, a widespread mutualism. Understanding the factors that affect this phenomenon is essential to understanding how plants manage their defenses, and that is exactly what scientists in Florida International University are doing.