CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

A frugivore´s movement and its behavior may have important implications on plant population and community dynamics. This is particularly important on temperate forest of southern South America where the arboreal marsupial Dromiciops gliroides is apparently, the only known seed disperser of the mistletoe Tristerix corymbosus seeds. In this work, we studied movement, activity, and feeding patterns of the nocturnal marsupial D. gliroides using videos recorded by camera traps. From video analysis, we obtained data regarding movement velocities, activity levels, time budgets, and feeding patterns. From our results we did not detect any reduction on movement velocities when individuals performed upward and downward movements in comparison to horizontal moves, or when they moved on substrates of narrower diameters. Mean velocity observed was 22 cm sec-1. D. gliroides presented two peaks of activity: one at 1:00 am approximately, and the other before sunrise, at 5:00 am approximately. During the darkest nights (new moon) individuals were more active, visited T. corymbosus plants for longer periods, and spent more time moving than during brighter nights (i.e., half and full moon nights). On average, individuals visited plants parasited by T. corymbosus for periods of 55 sec, and consumed about 3 fruits per plant. We also observed that the mean time needed for D. gliroides to manipulate-extract a each fruit was 6 sec. D. gliroides movement abilities could enhance the distance of seed deposition and the probabilities of plant establishment, and its feeding behavior may have important implication on T. corymbosus population dynamics.

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