From a plant's perspective, the difference between a seed predator and a seed disperser should be straightforward: attract animals that will disperse seeds and defend seeds from potential predators. Unlike pulp‐eating frugivores, seed predators regularly encounter diverse plant protective mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to examine feeding constraints, morphological adaptations, and the mechanical process of seed predation. While there is evidence that some seed predators cause severe losses to seed crops, there is also evidence that seed predators enhance seed dispersal and germination. We also examine four methods by which neotropical seed predators may contribute to dispersal. 1) Seed predators examined here ingested fruit when seeds were full‐sized, but not yet mature (i.e., seeds of mature fruit may be avoided by seed predators and available for dispersal by other frugivores). 2) Sympatric seed predators may ingest seeds from different plants thus reducing overall predator load on any individual plant. 3) Seed predators that manipulate seeds (e.g., remove pericarp and seed coat) may enhance germination if the prepared seeds are dropped, discarded, or buried and not ingested. 4) Small seeds may miss mastication and swallowed intact with a food bolus. The last mechanism is the most likely to contribute to seed dispersal by the widest array of vertebrate seed predators, but primate seed predators may facilitate seed dispersal using all four mechanisms. Therefore, the traditional dichotomy of seed predator vs. seed disperser oversimplifies the interactions between seed predators and plants. Am. J. Primatol. 45:103–126, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The main objective of this project was to provide baseline data on faecal parasites of groups of non-human primates from Tambopata Research Center, Tambopata National Reserve, Peru. All primate species found in this area were sampled: red howler monkeys Alouatta seniculus, night monkeys Aotus vociferans, spider monkeys Ateles bezlebuth chamek, brown titi monkeys Callicebus brunneus, white-fronted capuchins Cebus albifrons, brown capuchins Cebus apella, saddleback tamarins Saguinus fuscicollis and squirrel monkeys Saimiri sciureus. Individuals from four howler monkey troops, three brown titi monkey troops, two squirrel monkey troops and one troop each of night monkeys, spider monkeys, brown capuchins, white-fronted capuchins and saddleback tamarins were sampled. Faecal samples were collected from July to October 2002 from 86 individuals. A concentration test was used to analyse faecal samples. Results indicate the presence of various protozoans, Ancyclostoma sp., Ascaris sp., Strongyloides stercoralis, Trichuris trichiura, Prosthenorchis elegans and Schistosoma mansoni.

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From a plant's perspective, the difference between a seed predator and a seed disperser should be straightforward: attract animals that will disperse seeds and defend seeds from potential predators. Unlike pulp-eating frugivores, seed predators regularly encounter diverse plant protective mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to examine feeding constraints, morphological adaptations, and the mechanical process of seed predation. While there is evidence that some seed predators cause severe losses to seed crops, there is also evidence that seed predators enhance seed dispersal and germination. We also examine four methods by which neotropical seed predators may contribute to dispersal. 1) Seed predators examined here ingested fruit when seeds were full-sized, but not yet mature (i.e., seeds of mature fruit may be avoided by seed predators and available for dispersal by other frugivores). 2) Sympatric seed predators may ingest seeds from different plants thus reducing overall predator load on any individual plant. 3) Seed predators that manipulate seeds (e.g., remove pericarp and seed coat) may enhance germination if the prepared seeds are dropped, discarded, or buried and not ingested. 4) Small seeds may miss mastication and swallowed intact with a food bolus. The last mechanism is the most likely to contribute to seed dispersal by the widest array of vertebrate seed predators, but primate seed predators may facilitate seed dispersal using all four mechanisms. Therefore, the traditional dichotomy of seed predator vs. seed disperser oversimplifies the interactions between seed predators and plants.

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Abstract:The behavior of foragers can directly affect the dispersal of seeds. Strangler figs are keystone resources throughout the tropics and are important resources for both primates and birds. We examined the foraging behavior of golden-handed tamarins and four bird species in a strangler fig to see how these behaviors might affect the dispersal of fig seeds. Tamarins removed fruit at a faster rate than did any of the bird species examined. Additionally, tamarins tended to swallow figs whole whereas birds tended to drop figs once they were processed. Resumen: El comportamiento de foragers puede afectar directamente la dispersión de semillas. Los higos del estrangulador son recursos trapezoidales a través de las zonas tropicales y son recursos importantes para los primates y los pájaros. Examinamos el comportamiento del forraje de tamarins de oro-dados y cuatro especies del pájaro en un higo del estrangulador para ver cómo estos comportamientos pudieron afectar la dispersión de las semillas del higo. Fruta quitada Tamarins en una tarifa más rápida que la especie ua de los del pájaro examinada. Además, los tamarins tendieron para tragar los higos enteros mientras que los pájaros tendieron para caer los higos que fueron procesados una vez. Los árboles de higo de Tamarins que visitan injieren cantidades grandes de semillas del higo que se puedan depositar a través del bosque. Los pájaros por otra parte tendieron para procesar lentamente las frutas cerca del árbol de higo y la gota procesó la fruta que contenía cantidades grandes de semillas. Los estudios futuros necesitan ser conducidos para comprobar diferencias en sino de la semilla de la dispersión del poste. Palabras-clave: frugivores, nivel de entrada, manakins, calidad de la dispersión de la semilla, tamarins, tanagers. Biota Neotrop., vol. 9, no. 3 We observed one strangler fig (Ficus sp.) that was approximately 12 m tall with a crown that was 12 m in diameter. The fig was located alongside a park road making observations of foraging behavior ideal; the majority of the tree crown and fruits were visible from the road. Fruits were small (1.18 ± 0.04 cm) and aggregated in clusters on terminal branches. Fruits were abundant throughout the study (crop size > 1,000) and the majority of the fruits (>75%) were unripe and green in color; ripe fruit was reddish-purple in color.Our observations were made during the rainy season from July 17 through July 25, 2008, at the beginning of a period of fruit scarcity for the site (De Dijn et al. 2007). Observations were made between approximately 06:30 AM and 05:00 PM. Over the nine days, we recorded which primates and birds foraged in the tree. We calculated the total visits per species and the average number of visits per day. For the following analyses we included only species that visited tree or more than one day; therefore we only included tamarins and four bird species. In order to understand how primate and bird visitation affected fruit removal we calculated foraging bout length for tamarins and birds, as well a...