The contribution of the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) to the winter diet of frugivores in novel ecosystems

With the increasing expansion in urban areas, many species have adapted to utilising horticulturally used plants as alternate or augmentary food sources, in particular, during winter – when native foods are largely absent. Ornamental palms, particularly Canary Island Date Palms, fruit continuously during most of the year and thus provide a stable food supply. Based on observational, metric and bio-chemical data, this paper examines the role Canary Island Date Palms can and do play in the nutrition of frugivorous animals, in particular, for birds. It demonstrates that with its nearly year-round provisioning of drupes, the palm plays a major role as a ‘staple’ and backup food source for several species

Dietary habits of urban pigeons (Columba livia) and implications of excreta pH – A review

Pigeons are considered to be urban pests, causing untold damage to buildings and potentially impacting the health of humans who come into contact with them or their faeces. Pigeon faecal matter has been implicated in both health impacts and building damage, with the acidity of the excreta playing an important role. Purpose of the Review. This paper is a wide-ranging review of the chemical processes of excreta in the pigeon to aid our understanding of the potential problems of pigeons to buildings and human amenity in the urban space. The natural pH of pigeons is shown to vary based on the bird’s and age as well as reproductive stage. Key findings of the review. The influences of the altered diet between the rock dove (the wild progenitor of the feral pigeon) and the feral pigeon are detailed, indicating that the human-based diet of urban pigeons most likely causes the feral pigeon excreta to be more acidic than the rock dove excreta. This higher acidity is due in part to diet, but also to potential increases in faecal and/or uric acid volumes due to the low quality of humanbased diets. Again, this area of interest is highly data deficient due to the few number of studies and unspecified dietary intake before pH measurement. Implications of the review. Humans are increasingly concerned about pigeon populations (and presumably their accumulated faeces) in the urban space, and control comprises a large part of the interaction between humans and feral pigeons. This review provides a greater understanding of feral pigeons and the true effects of their excreta

Germination rates of old and fresh seeds and their implications on invasiveness of the ornamental Canary Islands date palm (Phoenix canariensis)

In many countries, Canary Islands Date Palms (Phoenix canariensis) have escaped their horticulturally managed settings and have commenced to colonise surrounding natural bushland. While dispersed by various vectors, both birds and canids such as foxes, fluctuating environmental conditions may inhibit germination in the season of deposition. The potential of old, previous season’s seeds to germinate when conditions turn favourable has direct implications on the plant’s ability to establish viable, colonising populations. Nothing is known about the ability of older, previous season’s seeds to successfully germinate. Based in experimental data, this paper shows that that the seeds of Phoenix canariensis exhibit both substantial inter-specimen and inter-seasonal variations in their germination potential. The observed variability is caused by the high genetic diversity inherent in a given palm population, as well as by range of environmental factors. At the present stage it is impossible to separate these two. Directions for further research are outlined

Dispersal of the date stone beetle Coccotrypes dactyliperda (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in a managed rural landscape

View on Scopus There are only limited experimental or observational data on vertical and horizontal flight capacity of Coccotrypes dactyliperda Fabricius, 1801 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae), a major pest in date palm plantations throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. This paper provides a set of proxy data, using actual observations of colonisation rates of Phoenix canariensis (Chabaud, 1882) (Arecales, Arecaceae) seeds in a linear planting array at Alma Park (NSW, Australia). The majority of dispersal movements occurs between adjacent or near adjacent seeds, followed by palms in close proximity with movements less than 4–5 m. While the maximum observed dispersal distance is 350 m, data suggest that a 36 m gap between two groups of palms is beyond the flight/dispersal range of most C. dactyliperda individuals and that colonisation over such distances would be a rare event. Since seed location is aided by temperature-sensitive alcohol-mediated kairomones, the chances of a beetle finding a new seed to colonise over longer distances are increasingly diminished during the summer months, thereby reducing reproductive success