Gulls contribute to olive seed dispersal within and among islands in a Mediterranean coastal area

Abstract

[eng] To analyse the role of non-frugivorous birds on seed dispersal, seed dispersal by gulls is expected to be especially instrumental in island ecosystems, as these have a smaller subset of frugivores when compared to the mainland, and because long-distance dispersal is required for plant colonisation. Here, we investigated the seed dispersal of olives by gulls among 10 islands of the same archipelago to reveal if gulls contribute to long-distance seed dispersal including different islands, and how gulls' adaptation to domestic olives and individual differences in foraging activities affect their seed dispersal pattern.