MESOAMERICANA - Sociedad Mesoamericana para la Biología y la ...

Mesoamericana 13 (1) Agosto de 2009
1975), Tringa melanoleuca (Greater-yellow Legs) (Elphick
and Tibbitts, 1998), Tringa flavipes (Lesser-yellow Legs)
(Tibbitts and Moskoff, 1999), Tringa semipalmata (Willet)
(Moskoff, 1995), Porphyrio martinica (Purple Gallinule)
(West and Hess, 2002) and Gallinula chloropus (Common
Moorhen) (Bannor and Kiviat, 2002), agree in stating that
R. maritima seeds seem not to be an important food item in
its diet.
For attaining a deeper insight on the actual role of
migrant waterfowls as effective dispersers of R. martima
seeds in Cayo Coco and neighboring islet wetlands, the
feeding ecology of dabbling ducks must be addressed by
analysing stomach contents (dietary preference) and
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33
subsequent experiments aimed at testing the survival rate
of retrieved propagules under the abiotic and biotic
conditions of the new possible habitat. On the other
hand, more scientific scrutiny for determining the actual
distribution of the angiosperm in the wetlands of Cuba
also demands attention.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank Jill Key and Vicente O. Rodríguez
and who patiently revised the versions of the draft.
Valuable and timely suggestions and comments were
made by Adán Zúñiga Ríos, Eneider Pérez Mena who also
improved the writing.
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