Title
Long-term consistency in spatial patterns of primate seed dispersal
Date Issued
01 March 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
research article
Author(s)
Heymann E.W.
Culot L.
Knogge C.
Noriega Piña T.E.
Klapproth M.
Zinner D.
Abstract
Seed dispersal is a key ecological process in tropical forests, with effects on various levels ranging from plant reproductive success to the carbon storage potential of tropical rainforests. On a local and landscape scale, spatial patterns of seed dispersal create the template for the recruitment process and thus influence the population dynamics of plant species. The strength of this influence will depend on the long-term consistency of spatial patterns of seed dispersal. We examined the long-term consistency of spatial patterns of seed dispersal with spatially explicit data on seed dispersal by two neotropical primate species, Leontocebus nigrifrons and Saguinus mystax (Callitrichidae), collected during four independent studies between 1994 and 2013. Using distributions of dispersal probability over distances independent of plant species, cumulative dispersal distances, and kernel density estimates, we show that spatial patterns of seed dispersal are highly consistent over time. For a specific plant species, the legume Parkia panurensis, the convergence of cumulative distributions at a distance of 300 m, and the high probability of dispersal within 100 m from source trees coincide with the dimension of the spatial–genetic structure on the embryo/juvenile (300 m) and adult stage (100 m), respectively, of this plant species. Our results are the first demonstration of long-term consistency of spatial patterns of seed dispersal created by tropical frugivores. Such consistency may translate into idiosyncratic patterns of regeneration.
Start page
1435
End page
1441
Volume
7
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ecología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85012066507
Source
Ecology and Evolution
Sponsor(s)
We thank the Peruvian authorities for permits to carry out research at EBQB (authorizations no. 003–94-GRL-CTAR-DRA, 011-2005-INRENA-IFFS-DCB, 071-2005-INRENA-IFFS-DCB, 059-2006-INRENA-IFFS-DCB, 114-2007-INRENA-IFFS-DCB, 1062007-INRENA-IFFS-DCB, 0329-2012-AGDGFFS-DGEFFS). We are grateful to Enrique Montoya G., Filomeno Encarnación C., Rolando Aquino Y., and Alfonso Gozalo S. from the Proyecto Peruano de Primatología for help and logistic support, and to Ney Shahuano Tello, Arsenio Calle Córdoba, Jeisen Shahuano Tello, and Camilo Flores Amasifuén for excellent assistance in the field. Field research was financially supported by grants from the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; grants HE 1870/3-[1-3], HE 1870/15-[1,2], and HE 1870/19-1) to E.W.H. and from the Foundations Alice Seghers and Docquier (Ulg), FRIA (Fonds pour la formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture), and FNRS (Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique) to L.C. Finally, we are thankful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive criticism on our manuscript.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus