Scatter hoarding of seeds confers survival advantages and disadvantages to large-seeded tropical plants at different life stages.

ABSTRACT: Scatter hoarding of seeds by animals contributes significantly to forest-level processes, including plant recruitment and forest community composition. However, the potential positive and negative effects of caching on seed survival, germination success, and seedling survival have rarely been assessed through experimental studies. Here, I tested the hypothesis that seed burial mimicking caches made by scatter hoarding Central American agoutis (Dasyprocta punctate) enhances seed survival, germination, and growth by protecting seeds from seed predators and providing favorable microhabitats for germination. In a series of experiments, I used simulated agouti seed caches to assess how hoarding affects seed predation by ground-dwelling invertebrates and vertebrates for four plant species. I tra

SUBMITTER: Kuprewicz EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4430353 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature