Research Highlights: Frugivory by mammals is a common plant–animal interaction, but additional studies that examine the effects of frugivory on woody plants are needed. We show that ingestion of netleaf hackberry (Celtis reticulata Torr.) fruits by coyotes (Canis latrans Say) cuts the time to germination nearly in half and results in seedlings that are taller than the controls. Background and Objectives: Netleaf hackberry is a deciduous shrub to small tree that can be long-lived, but newly established stands are rare. The lack of juvenile hackberry in its native range of southwestern North America could be due to low percentages of germination and seedling survival. We hypothesized that passage through the digestive tract of a coyote would increase the germination and subsequent growth of netleaf hackberry. Materials and Methods: In the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, we collected coyote scats containing visible hackberry fruits and picked fresh fruits from nearby hackberry shrubs. All samples were cleaned and cold-stratified. We sowed 20 seeds from each of the 34 samples into containers in the greenhouse (a total of 680 seeds). We noted the date of emergence and final height of each seedling after 131 days. Results: The germination percentage of the coyote-treatment seeds did not differ from that of the controls. However, the coyote-ingested seeds took just over half as many days to germinate as did the undigested controls (35 days vs. 69 days, respectively; p < 0.001) and the resulting seedlings were 9.5% taller by the end of the growing season (6.4 vs. 5.8 cm, respectively; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Consumption by coyotes can benefit hackberries by enabling their seeds to germinate earlier in the year when conditions are wetter and cooler. The additional time for establishment and growth afforded by frugivory likely increases the fitness of netleaf hackberry seedlings that emerge into the unpredictable conditions of a semi-arid region.

中文翻译：

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郊狼的节食减少了发芽时间并增加了网叶朴树（Celtis reticulata）幼苗的生长

研究重点：哺乳动物的节食是一种常见的植物与动物的相互作用，但是还需要进行其他研究，以研究节食对木本植物的影响。我们表明，土狼（Canis latrans）摄入网叶朴树（Celtis reticulata Torr。）果实说）将发芽时间缩短了近一半，并导致幼苗比对照高。背景与目的：Netleaf朴树莓是一种落叶乔木，可以长寿，但很少有新建立的林分。北美西南部原生地区的幼小朴树莓可能是由于发芽率和幼苗存活率较低所致。我们假设通过土狼的消化道会增加发芽的朴素和随后的生长。材料和方法：在犹他州的沃萨奇山中，我们收集了含有可见朴树果实的土狼粪便，并从附近的朴树灌木中采摘了新鲜水果。将所有样品清洗并冷分层。我们从34个样本中的每一个中播种了20颗种子到温室中的容器中（总共680颗种子）。我们记录了131天后每个幼苗出苗的日期和最终高度。结果：土狼处理种子的发芽率与对照无差异。然而，与未消化的对照相比，被土狼吞噬的种子发芽所需的时间仅为未消化的对照的一半多（分别为35天和69天；p <0.001），到生长季节结束时，所得到的幼苗高出9.5％（分别为6.4和5.8 cm；p <0.001）。结论：土狼的消费可以使朴树的种子在一年中潮湿和凉爽的季节早些时候发芽，从而使朴树受益。由节食方法提供的建立和生长的额外时间可能会增加半叶朴实地区出现的网叶朴树幼苗的适应性。