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| Author(s): | Quinn, James;
Mowrey, Daniel;
Emanuele, Stephen;
Whalley, Ralph |
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| Title: | The "Foliage is the fruit" Hypothesis: Buchloe Dactyloides (Poaceae) and the shortgrass prairie of North America |
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| Source: | American Journal of Botany. Vol. 81, No. 12, December 1994, p. 1545-1554. |
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| Publishing Information: | Columbus, OH: Botanical Society of America |
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| # of Pages: | 10 |
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| Keywords: | TIC Keywords: Bouteloua dactyloides; Seed dispersal; Seed injury; Seeds
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| Abstract/Contents: | "Janzen proposed that foliage of herbaceous plants may serve as the attractant for large herbivore dispersal of seeds. Such herbivore dispersal was envisioned to select for traits enhancing ingestion and passage of viable seeds through the animal. We tested this "Foliage is the Fruit" (FF) hypothesis by collecting and collatin approproate data from Buchloe dactyloides (buffalograss), one of the two dominant grasses of the shortgrass prairie. Passage of buffalograss diaspores through cattle had a positive effect on germination and seedling growth from intact diaspores, damage other than that due to mastication (15%) was minimal and retention time was 1-5 days. This combination of retention time and migratory herbivores during the northward expansion of shortgrass prairie should have enhanced migration of buffalograss northward to Montana from its area of origin in central Mexico, and our comparisons with its five close dioecious relatives (the "Buchloe group") showed that buffalograss does possess a suite of distinctive FF traits. Lab analyses of folige quality and digestibility also confirmed the high quality of it foliage. After reviewing comparable data for Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama), we conclude that buffalograss and blue grama, which dominate major portions of the largest North American steppe Provicne, provide strong support for the FF hypothesis. |
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| Language: | English |
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| References: | Unknown |
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| ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete):
Quinn, J., D. Mowrey, S. Emanuele, and R. Whalley. 1994. The "Foliage is the fruit" Hypothesis: Buchloe Dactyloides (Poaceae) and the shortgrass prairie of North America. Amer. J. Bot. 81(12):p. 1545-1554. |
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MSU catalog number: QK 1 .B345 |
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