Interaction between frugivorous vertebrates and two plant species of the genus Spondias

Abstract

Most plant species in the Atlantic Forest invest in zoochory as a dispersal mechanism and many depend on vertebrates to fulfill that role. The sizes of fruits and seeds are limiting factors in interactions between vertebrates and plant species. For example, plants that produce fruits with large seeds are more dependent on large frugivorous vertebrates for dispersal. We used camera traps to observe the interactions between frugivorous vertebrates and two large seed-producing plants of the genus Spondias in the Tableland of the Atlantic Forest of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Between 2015 and 2016 (622 camera days), we recorded 17 species of frugivorous vertebrates potentially ingesting fruit at the studied sites. Among the species recorded, only the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) was observed interacting directly with S. venulosa and S. macrocarpa. Our analysis indicates that the type of interaction depends on the body size of the vertebrate species, meaning that direct interaction with fruits of Spondias is commonly performed by medium and large vertebrates, such as spotted pacas, agoutis, and tapirs. Our study highlights the importance of these vertebrates in the forest remnants of the Atlantic Forest Tableland, such as the Linhares-Sooretama forest complex, for conservation and regeneration of plant communities.

Phenological patterns and fruit-frugivore interactions of Sterculia guttata Roxb. in a tropical moist deciduous forest of southern Western Ghats, India

“…Studies have confirmed that birds highly prefer fruits with red colour (Larrinaga, 2011;Pires et al, 2018), while mammals feed on fruits of various colours (Bollen et al, 2004;Koike and Masaki, 2019). The sizes of fruits and seeds are limiting factors in interactions between vertebrates and plant species (Sampaio et al, 2018). Our observations also showed that S. guttata had a limited avian species assemblage.…”

Activity patterns of terrestrial frugivorous mammals in a Mexican Neotropical forest

“…Importance of this resource for animals is evidenced by the fact that when marked drops in fruit availability occur, as those associated with climate fluctuations such as El Niño, mortality among the fauna can drastically increase due to famine (Wright et al 1999). A large proportion of fruits are consumed in situ (in the tree canopy) or taken by animals to be consumed elsewhere (Bonaccorso et al 1980;Jayasekara et al 2007;Sampaio et al 2019). As a consequence of this or by mere gravity, a significant amount of fruits falls and accumulate at the base of trees.…”

“…Most of our current knowledge of frugivory interactions concentrates on primates, bats and birds foraging in the canopy (Sridhara et al 2016). In comparison, much less is known about the patterns of activity of medium and large body-sized mammals consuming fruits on the floor of tropical forest (but see Miura 1997; Camargo-Sanabria and Mendoza 2016; Sampaio et al 2019). Yet, mammals in this group barbara), striped hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus semistriatus) and white-nosed coati (Nasua narica;Medellin 1994).…”