Seed predation and removal from faeces in Monte Desert: who, where and when?.

VELEZ, SILVINA; CHACOFF, NATACHA P; CAMPOS, C. M

BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY

ELSEVIER GMBH, URBAN & FISCHER VERLAG

Lugar: ALEMANIA; Año: 2015

1439-1791

The fate of dispersed seeds from mammal faeces depends both on the animal that finds the seeds and environmental conditions.We explored the simultaneous influence of microhabitat and food availability on seed predation and removal from faeces bydifferent animals in a protected Prosopis flexuosa open woodland site of the central Monte desert (Argentina). Using exclusiontrials on simulated cattle faeces, we quantified seed predation in situ (within cages) and seed removal from faeces by rodentsand ants in two different microhabitats (under shrub cover and on bare soil). This was done for two levels of availability of P.flexuosa fruits (during the fruiting season of P. flexuosa and when there are no fruits on the ground). We found that 67.9% of seedsremained in faeces, 28.9% were removed, and 3.2% were depredated in situ. Rodents removed more seeds under shrub coverthan on bare soil, and during the non-fruiting period than during the fruiting period, whereas ants removed similar proportionsof seeds in different microhabitats but almost exclusively during the fruiting season. This work acknowledges the complexityof dispersal processes and identifies the relative importance of some environmental factors for seed fate.