Granivory

Granivory is a feeding strategy centered on consuming seeds and grains. Granivores range from insects and birds to mammals, and may disperse seeds or destroy them.

Seed predation: The consumption of seeds by animals before or after they leave the parent plant. Granivory often acts as seed predation, reducing the number of seeds available to germinate.
Seed-eating birds: Birds whose diets include substantial amounts of seeds. Birds such as finches and sparrows are familiar granivores with specialized seed-handling behaviors.
Stored-product pest: An animal that damages food or other commodities during storage. Granivorous insects and rodents can infest stored grain and reduce its quantity or quality.
Plant-animal interaction: An ecological relationship in which plants and animals affect one another. Granivory is a direct interaction whose outcomes include food for animals and losses for plants.
Herbivory: The consumption of living plant material by animals. Granivory is a specialized form of herbivory focused on seeds rather than leaves, stems, or roots.
Seed dispersal: The movement of seeds away from the plants that produced them. Granivores can disperse seeds when they carry or cache them and leave some uneaten.
Finch: A small to medium-sized passerine bird, many species of which eat seeds. Finches exemplify how beak form and behavior can suit a granivorous diet.
Rodent control: Methods used to reduce rodent populations or limit their damage. Control measures often target granivorous rodents that consume seeds in fields and storage.
Plant population dynamics: Changes over time in the size, structure, and growth of a plant population. By removing seeds, granivores influence plant population growth and age structure.
Frugivory: The consumption of fruits by animals. Frugivores eat fruit tissues and may disperse enclosed seeds, unlike granivores that target seeds themselves.

Linked from 13 pages