Fleshy pulp enhances the location of Syagrus romanzoffiana (Arecaceae) fruits by seed-dispersing rodents in an Atlantic forest in south-eastern Brazil

Abstract

Rodents are the most diverse group of terrestrial mammals in neotropical forests (Emmons & Feer 1997). The interaction of rodents with plants is often pivotal for seed survival (Peres & Baider 1997, Vander Wall 1990). Many rodent species are seed predators (Brewer 2001, Galetti et al. 1992, Hoch & Adler 1997). However, some neotropical rodents, especially dasyproctids (such as Dasyprocta and Myoprocta) and echimyids (Proechimys), are important secondary seed dispersers for large-seeded plants (Forget 1993, 1994; Hoch & Adler 1997, Wenny 1999).