O destino pos-dispersão das sementes do caquizinho-do-mato (Diospyros inconstans) ingeridas pelo bugio-ruivo (Alouatta guariba clamitans) em uma floresta subtropical no sul do Brasil

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2003

RESUMO

The main benefit frugivorous vertebrates provide to plants is the distribution of their seeds in sites favorable for survival. The dispersal efficiency may be determined by the quality of the dispersal site, which directly influences post-dispersal seed and seedling survival. However, very few studies have investigated the relations between disperser activity, quality of the post-dispersal seeds and dispersal site features. The brown howler monkey Alouatta guariba clamitans (ATELlDAE, bugio-ruivo) is known to consume and disperse the seeds of Diospyros inconstans (caquizinho-do-mato, ESENACEAE), a Iate secondary forest tree found in the slope and plain Iate secondary forests of Porto Alegre city, South Brazil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of the dispersal services provide by brown howler monkey to D. inconstans comparing the fate, survival and in situ germination rate of seeds consumed and not-consumed by this primate. Plots (20 cm diameter) containing dispersed and non dispersed seeds were tagged and classified into three types, related to their position within the forest: under the parent-tree, under nocturnal A. g. clamitans sleeping sites and distributed within the forest (treatments). It was found a total of 1832 seeds, which were accompanied along 314 days, when they were classified into six categories: predated, attacked by fungi, removed, not-removed, germinated and dead seedlings. Seed predation by insects occurred as soon as the fruits (or seeds into feces) fell to the ground, and it was observed that, in ali treatments, non-dispersed seeds were more insect-predated than dispersed ones. Additionally to the occupation of favorable sites for germination, dispersed seeds presented higher survival rates when compared with non-dispersed ones, which indicates that A. g. clamitans is an efficient disperser of D. inconstans seeds. Despite some neutral effects (percent germination and germination rate), the dispersal of D. inconstans seeds by A. guariba contributes to the species recruitment in early secondary forests

ASSUNTO(S)

germinação dispersão

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