Seed Dispersal Research
A second area that we are researching is the importance of seed dispersal. All the New Zealand Loranthaceae mistletoe species have fleshy fruits and are bird dispersed (see the photo below of ripe Alepis flavida fruits). An initial survey seemed to show that even where they are pollen limited, these mistletoes are not disperser limited (see Ladley and Kelly 1996). At present we are studying the potential mechanisms for this and how dispersal is affected by fragmentation.
