A strong conditional mutualism limits and enhances seed dispersal and germination of a tropical palm.

ABSTRACT: Seed predation and seed dispersal can have strong effects on early life history stages of plants. These processes have often been studied as individual effects, but the degree to which their relative importance co-varies with seed predator abundance and how this influences seed germination rates is poorly understood. Therefore, we used a combination of observations and field experiments to determine the degree to which germination rates of the palm Astrocaryum mexicanum varied with abundance of a small mammal seed predator/disperser, Heteromys desmarestianus, in a lowland tropical forest. Patterns of abundance of the two species were strongly related; density of H. desmarestianus was low in sites with low density of A. mexicanum and vice versa. Rates of predation and dispersal of A. mexica

SUBMITTER: Klinger R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2841266 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature