Endozoochorous dispersal of forest seeds by carnivorous mammals in Sierra Fría, Aguascalientes, Mexico

Autor: Joaquín Sosa-Ramírez, José de Jesús Luna-Ruíz, Arturo Valdivia-Flores, Fabián Alejandro Rubalcava-Castillo, Vicente Díaz-Núñez, Luis Ignacio Iñiguez-Dávalos
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Ecology and Evolution
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10, Iss 6, Pp 2991-3003 (2020)
ISSN: 2045-7758
Popis: Some carnivorous mammals ingest fruit and disperse seeds of forest plant species capable of colonizing disturbed areas in ecosystems. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the dissemination of Arctostaphylos pungens and Juniperus deppeana seeds by the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), coyote (Canis latrans), and other carnivores in the Protected Natural Area Sierra Fría, in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Scat collection was undertaken via transects using the direct search method, while the seasonal phenology of A. pungens and J. deppeana was evaluated by recording flower and fruit abundance on both the plant and the surrounding forest floor ground. Seed viability was assessed by optical densitometry via X‐ray and a germination test. It was found that the gray fox, coyote, ringtail (Bassariscus astutus), and bobcat (Lynx rufus) disseminated seeds of A. pungens (212 ± 48.9 seeds/scat) and J. deppeana (23.6 ± 4.9 seeds/scat), since a large proportion of the collected scat of these species contained seeds (28/30 = 93.33%, 12/43 = 27.9%, 6/12 = 50% and 7/25 = 28% respectively). The gray fox, coyote, ringtail, and bobcat presented an average of seed dispersion of both plant species of 185.4 ± 228.7, 4.0 ± 20.0, 12.1 ± 30.4, and 0.8 ± 1.5 per scat; the seed proportions in the gray fox, coyote, ringtail, and bobcat were 89.6/10.4%, 82.3/17.7%, 90.4/9.6%, and 38.1/61.9% for A. pungens and J. deppeana, respectively. The phenology indicated a finding related to the greater abundance of ripe fruit in autumn and winter (p .05), except in those of A. pungens dispersed by coyote. These results suggest that carnivores, particularly the gray fox, the coyote, and the bobcat, play an important role in forest seed dissemination, and thus forest regeneration, by making both a quantitative and qualitative contribution to the dispersal of the two pioneer species under study.
In the Sierra Fría, south of the Sierra Madre Occidental of México the most important pioneer species in forest regeneration and those that have had a greater distribution are: Arctostaphylos pungens and Juniperus deppeana. Our results indicate that these plant species are dispersed by the grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), coyote (Canis latrans), cacomixtle (Bassariscus astutus) and the wildcat (Lynx rufus). Likewise, these mammals were enhanced the viability and germination of J. deppeana. The abundance of fruit in the canopy was related to the abundance of seeds present in the scat during the season of autumn.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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