Interactions between terrestrial mammals and the fruits of two neotropical rainforest tree species |
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| Institution: | 1. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ant. Carr. a Pátzcuaro 8701, Col. Ex-Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Mich., 58190, Mexico;2. Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Av. San Juanito Itzicuaro s/n, Col. Nueva Esperanza, Morelia, Mich., 58337, Mexico;1. Department of Ecology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Egyetem square 1, H-4032 Hungary;2. Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Str. Clinicilor nr. 5–7, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;3. MTA-DE Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Research Group, Debrecen, Egyetem square 1, H-4032 Hungary;1. Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF), 1 rue Gabriel Dejean, B.P 400, 97458 Saint Pierre Cedex, France;2. Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Le Sextant, 44 boulevard de Dunkerque, CS90009, 13572 Marseille Cedex 02, France;3. UMR 9190 MARBEC UM2-CNRS-IRD-UM1-IFREMER, CC 93, Place Eugène Bataillon, Université de Montpellier, F-34095 Montpellier, France;1. Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Catedrático José Beltrán, 2, Paterna, E-46980, Spain;2. Department of Biology and Geology, IES Violant de Casalduch, Avinguda Castelló s/n, Benicàssim, E-12560, Spain;1. Grupo de Estudios Biofísicos y Ecofisiológicos (GEBEF), Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, 9000 Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina;2. CONICET, Argentina;3. Laboratorio de Ecología Funcional (LEF), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina;4. University of Miami, USA;1. Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China;2. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Science Chengdu, 610041, China |
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| Abstract: | Mammalian frugivory is a distinctive biotic interaction of tropical forests; however, most efforts in the Neotropics have focused on cases of animals foraging in the forest canopy, in particular primates and bats. In contrast much less is known about this interaction when it involves fruits deposited on the forest floor and terrestrial mammals. We conducted a camera-trapping survey to analyze the characteristics of the mammalian ensembles visiting fruits of Licania platypus and Pouteria sapota deposited on the forest floor in a well preserved tropical rainforest of Mexico. Both tree species produce large fruits but contrast in their population densities and fruit chemical composition. In particular, we expected that more species of terrestrial mammals would consume P. sapota fruits due to its higher pulp:seed ratio, lower availability and greater carbohydrate content. We monitored fruits at the base of 13 trees (P. sapota, n = 4 and L. platypus, n = 9) using camera-traps. We recorded 13 mammal species from which we had evidence of 8 consuming or removing fruits. These eight species accounted for 70% of the species of mammalian frugivores active in the forest floor of our study area. The ensemble of frugivores associated with L. platypus (6 spp.) was a subset of that associated with P. sapota (8 spp). Large body-sized species such as Tapirus bairdii, Pecari tajacu and Cuniculus paca were the mammals more frequently interacting with fruits of the focal species. Our results further our understanding of the characteristics of the interaction between terrestrial mammalian frugivores and large-sized fruits, helping to gain a more balanced view of its importance across different tropical forests and providing a baseline to compare against defaunated forests. |
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| Keywords: | Large-fruited trees Mammalian frugivory Fruit chemical composition Southeast Mexico |
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