Fruit removal of a wild tomato, Solanum granulosoleprosum Dunal (Solanaceae), by birds, bats and non-flying mammals in an urban Brazilian environment

Abstract

A study of removal of fruits of the wild tomato, Solanum granulosoleprosum Dunal (N = 5 plants), by vertebrates was carried out in an urban environment of southern Brazil from January to May 1997 and February 1998. To verify diurnal and nocturnal removals, fruits were counted in several fruit bunches, being classified by size and color. Diurnal observations were made on plants to verify bird removal. A mist net was placed among the plants from the evening to 23:00 h to verify bat consumption. Live traps baited with S. granulosoleprosum fruits were placed on the ground among plants to verify terrestrial removers. On average it was found two ripe fruits available per bunch/day, but unripe, small, fruits were dominant (70%). Nocturnal mammals and birds-diurnal mammals partitioned fruits similarly. Bats removing fruits were Artibeus lituratus (Olfers, 1818), Pygoderma bilabiatum (Wagner, 1843) and Sturnira lilium (E. Geoffroy, 1810). Birds were Saltator similis Lafresnaye & d'Orbigny, 1837 and Thraupis sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766). Terrestrial mammals were a marsupial and three rodent species. Except for rodents, these vertebrates must be promoting the seed dispersal of S. granulosoleprosum seeds in disturbed mixed forests of southern Brazil

Microhabitat of small mammals at ground and understorey levels in a deciduous, southern Atlantic Forest

“…2008, Casella and Cáceres 2006. The latter must climb the plant to access the fruits, which are held on the end of stems, as observed for O. nigripes on the end of stems, as observed for O. nigripes on the end of stems, as observed for here (personal observation) and elsewhere (Cáceres and Moura 2003). Didelphis albiventris must perceive the environment on a different scale than the other smallmammal species in the study area, because of its large body size (averaging 1 kg versus 20 to 100 g for the remaining species), besides its role as a predator of these species (Fonseca and Robinson 1990).…”

Frugivory and seed dispersal of Solanum granuloso-leprosum Dunal (Solanaceae) by birds in deciduous seasonal forest

“…Feeding behavior could be a limiting factor for the consumption of particular fruits by birds (Moermond and Denslow, 1985), and how fruits are collected may be related to accessibility and location on the tree ( Van der Pijl, 1972;Cáceres and Moura, 2003). The exposed outside crown of S. granuloso-leprosum facilitates fruit collection during flight by picking, stalling and hovering (which together accounted for 99.7% of feeding behaviors).…”

“…The bird species that consumed fruits and dispersed the seeds were all generalists, common to disturbed environments (Cáceres and Moura, 2003;Sick, 2001). The mixed (or generalist) system of seed dispersal of this pioneer plant is vital for the recuperation of degraded environments, because the vertebrates responsible for fruit removal and seed dispersal in this case (i.e., birds and bats) are common indisturbed urban environments.…”

“…It is a pioneer small tree thriving on the edges of both natural and disturbed habitats (Cáceres and Moura, 2003;Mentz and Oliveira, 2004). Infructescences contain on average 12.0 ± 7.1 fruits (n = 100), with a diameter of 14.7 ± 11.3 mm (n = 100).…”

“…The fruits have zoochoric dispersal syndrome ( Van der Pijl, 1972), and the vertebrates typically responsible for removing fruits are common to disturbed environments, including the frugivores that disperse Solanaceae seeds in these areas (e.g. birds, bats, rodents, opossums, and crab-eating foxes) (Marcondes- Machado and Argel-de-Oliveira, 1988;Müller and Reis, 1992;Reis et al, 1993;Rocha et al, 2008;Galetti and Morellato, 1994;Poulin et al, 1994;Sazima et al, 1994;Cáceres, 2002;Cáceres and Moura, 2003;Jacomassa and Pizo, 2010).…”