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On the density-dependence of seed predation in Dipteryx micrantha, a bat-dispersed rain forest tree

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Abstract

We studied the effect of seed density on seed predation by following the fate of bat-dispersed Dipteryx micrantha (Leguminosae) seeds deposited under bat feeding roosts. The study was conducted in Cocha Cashu biological station, Amazonian Peru, during the fruiting period of Dipteryx. Predation of Dipteryx seeds in the area is mainly by large to medium-sized rodents. Seed deposits beneath bat feeding roosts were monitored for a 13-week period in an 18-ha study area. A total of 210 seed deposits were found, and on average, seed predators encountered 22% of them during any one week. About one-third of the seed deposits escaped predation, and those deposits that had relatively few seeds were more likely to go unnoticed by rodents than were deposits with many seeds. The mean seed destruction rate was 8% per week; deposits with many seeds tended to lose a smaller proportion of their seeds to seed predators than did deposits with few seeds. Regression tests for the weekly data showed that, at the beginning of the observation period, seed predation was not density-dependent. Later, when the total seed crop beneath roosts was high, the number of seeds predated per deposit was positively density-dependent, while the proportion of seeds predated was negatively density-dependent, indicating predator satiation. Seed deposits that had been visited by seed predators once had a higher probability of being revisited the week after, especially if they contained many seeds when first encountered. This indicates that the foraging behavior of rodents may be affected by their remembering the location of seed-rich patches.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Peruvian National Directorate for Protected Areas for the permit to conduct research in a pristine area where the tree and seed predator communities are still in natural conditions. We are grateful to John Terborgh and Mercedes Foster for practical help at the Cocha Cashu station, and to Ricardo Sanchez and Alexi Herrera for their dedicated assistance in the field. The research was funded by the World Wildlife Fund grant to Cocha Cashu, the Academy of Finland, and the Turku University Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Mónica Romo & Hanna Tuomisto

  2. Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., MO 63121–4499, USA

    Bette A. Loiselle

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  1. Mónica Romo
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  2. Hanna Tuomisto
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  3. Bette A. Loiselle
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Correspondence to Mónica Romo.

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Romo, M., Tuomisto, H. & Loiselle, B.A. On the density-dependence of seed predation in Dipteryx micrantha, a bat-dispersed rain forest tree. Oecologia 140, 76–85 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1502-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1502-x

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