Seeds of the annual grasses Schizachyrium spp. as a food resource for tropical granivorous birds

Abstract

Seed dynamics of the annual tropical grasses Schizachyrium fragile (R. Br.) A. Camus, S. pachyarthron C. Gardner and S. pseudeulalia (Hosok.) S.T. Blake were studied with the aim of documenting fluxes in granivore food resources. In S. fragile, seed production began in the early dry season, and seed output was primarily influenced by seedling survival. Following seed‐fall, there were 651 S. fragile seeds/m2 (393 kernels/m2) and 1014 S. pachyarthron seeds/m2 (593 kernels/m2) across the study area, with a combined kernel biomass of 14.1 × 103 g/ha. Seed densities remained stable through the dry season, then declined rapidly after wet season rain. Initial wet season rains of up to 25 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm resulted in seed‐bank germination of < 5%, 57%, and 93%, respectively. Some seeds were buried by rain and resurfaced or germinated later, but about 30% was lost. Widespread and abrupt depletion of the seed‐bank is likely to occur at the start of about 8% of wet seasons on central Cape York Peninsula, leaving little seed, either for subsequent germination or as food for granivores. Burning early in the dry season, when most seeds were still on the plants, reduced seed densities by 85%. The proportion of seeds with sound kernels was reduced in areas burnt by dry season fires, both directly after the fires and, subsequently, as a result of preferential granivore activity. Areas burnt in the dry season were thus depleted of seed earlier than were unburnt areas. Food availability for granivores should therefore be optimized by fire regimes that include a range of burning histories, including fires in both early dry and early wet seasons as well as keeping other areas unburnt.