Cover Letter
We are excited to submit our manuscript “Do birds disperse mosses? Evidence of endozoochory in upland geese Chloephaga picta and white-bellied seedsnipes Attagis malouinus in sub-Antarctic Chile” to be considered for its publication in Ecology and Evolution.
This is an experimental research that addresses a potential novel mechanism for the dispersal of mosses. We investigated the ability of mosses to establish a new individual after being ingested by herbivorous birds, moving through their digestive system and being deposited in the feces on the ground by these wild birds.
We tested the idea that mosses can be dispersed through endozoochory by birds. We examined the content of feces of white-belied seedsnipes (Attagis malouinus ) and of sympatric upland geese (Chloephaga picta ) and cultivated the fragments of mosses found in the feces on two different substrates. We concurrently evaluated the viability of moss fragments from mosses collected from the same sites, in the far south of Chile. The fact that we obtained protonemas from wild moss fragments indicated the totipotency of the mosses. Further, the regeneration of bird-ingested mosses by both bird species indicated that birds defecate viable mosses that can produce new individuals.
This is a novel finding, especially considering that these are strong flying migratory birds that defecate in like substrates as where the mosses are found. Thus far, the paradigm for moss dispersal has been through wind and rain. We report that birds serve as biotic vectors through endozoochory and therefore may disperse mosses in ways and into places that the abiotic factors cannot. In the context to climate change and the “reshuffling” of biotic communities, this is especially important.
We consider that this paper presents convincing evidence that points out to a paradigm shift in moss dispersal that is prevalent and likely occurs in many other regions of the world. Hence, this research is in line with the aims of Ecology and Evolution in furthering our understanding of natural processes and that would interest a broad audience of readers.