Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T20:13:54.624Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Indirect effects of timber extraction on plant recruitment and diversity via reductions in abundance of frugivorous spider monkeys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2009

Gabriel Gutiérrez-Granados  and
Rodolfo Dirzo
Gabriel Gutiérrez-Granados*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico D.F. 04510, Mexico
Rodolfo Dirzo
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: ggranados@ecologia.unam.mx.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The ecological effects of logging in the tropics have been analysed largely in terms of its impacts on species diversity and abundance. However, information is very limited regarding the impact of logging on ecological processes such as species interactions. Here we hypothesize that timber extraction per se, that is, in the absence of hunting, affects the abundance of the frugivorous spider monkey, Ateles geoffroyi, and that this has indirect effects on the recruitment of a predominant tree species, Manilkara zapota, and the diversity of the understorey plant community. We compared logged and unlogged sites, using a paired design. In each management condition we conducted line transects and interviews to evaluate spider monkey abundance and game preferences, respectively. Impact on plant recruitment and understorey diversity were evaluated using 2 × 2-m plots (N = 320) established under 40 M. zapota tree crowns. No spider monkeys were recorded in logged sites whereas they were abundant (15 ± 8 individuals per man-km) in unlogged sites. Interviews showed that spider monkeys are not hunted by local inhabitants. Logging was correlated with a reduction of the number of M. zapota fruits used by A. geoffroyi; an increase in the number of sites dominated by M. zapota; and a reduction in understorey plant diversity. Our results suggest that the absence of A. geoffroyi in logged sites can indirectly impact plant recruitment and diversity via the disruption of plant–frugivore interactions. Further work is needed to assess if these effects persist over the long term, to define if logging operations affect the overall diversity of tropical forests.

Keywords

Ateles geoffroyiloggingManilkara zapotaMayan zoneplant–frugivore interactionsunderstorey diversity
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 45 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ANDRESEN, E. 2002. Primary seed dispersal by red howler monkeys and the effect of defecation patterns on the fate of dispersed seeds. Biotropica 34:261–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ALAVALAPATI, J. R. R. & ZARIN, D. J. 2004. Neotropical working forests. For what and for whom. Working forest in the Neotropics. Pp. 279–289 in Zarin, D. J., Alavalapati, J. R. R., Putz, F. & Schmink, M. (eds.). Conservation through sustainable management? Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
BRAY, D. B., MERINO-PÉREZ, L., NEGREROS-CASTILLO, P., SEGURA-WARNHOLTZ, G., TORRES-ROJO, J. M. & VESTER, H. F. M. 2003. Mexico's community-managed forests as a global model for sustainable landscapes. Conservation Biology 17;672–677.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHAPMAN, C. A. & CHAPMAN, L. J. 1995. Survival without dispersers: seedling recruitment under parents. Conservation Biology 9:675–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHAPMAN, C. A. & ONDERDONK, D. A. 1998. Forests without primates: primate/plant codependency. American Journal of Primatology 45:127–141.3.0.CO;2-Y>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
CHAPMAN, C. A. & RUSSO, S. E. 2006. Primate seed dispersal. Linking behavioral ecology with forest community structure. Pp. 510–525 in Campbell, C. J., Fuentes, A. F., MacKinnon, C. K., Panger, M. & Bearder, S. (eds.). Primates in perspective. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
CHAPMAN, C. A., WRANGHAM, R. & CHAPMAN, L. J. 1994. Indices of habitat-wide fruit abundance in tropical forests. Biotropica 26:160–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHAPMAN, C. A., BALCOM, S. R., GILLESPIE, T. R., SKORUPA, J. P. & STRUHSAKER, T. T. 2000. Long-term effects of logging on African primate communities: a 28-year comparison from Kibale National Park, Uganda. Conservation Biology 14:207–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CLARK, C. J., POULSEN, J. R. & PARKER, V. T. 2001. The role of arboreal seed dispersal groups on the seed rain of a lowland tropical forest. Biotropica 33:606–620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CONNELL, J. H. 1971. On the role of natural enemies in preventing competitive exclusion in some marine animals and in forest trees. Pp. 298–313 in den Boer, P. J. & Gradwell, G. (eds.). Dynamics of populations. Pudoc, Wageningen.Google Scholar
CRUZ-RODRÍGUEZ, J. A. & LÓPEZ-MATA, L. 2004. Demography of the seedling bank of Manilkara zapota (L.) Royen, in a subtropical rain forest of Mexico. Plant Ecology 172:227–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DIRZO, R, MENDOZA, E., & ORTÍZ, P. 2007. Size-related differential seed predation in a heavily defaunated Neotropical rain forest. Biotropica 39: 355–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EMMONS, L. H. & FEER, F. 1997. Neotropical rainforest mammals: a field guide. Chicago University Press, Chicago. 396 pp.Google Scholar
FEER, F. & FORGET, P.-M. 2002. Spatio-temporal variations in post-dispersal seed fate. Biotropica 34:555–566.Google Scholar
FORGET, P.-M. & JANSEN, P. A. 2007. Hunting increases dispersal limitation in the tree Carapa procera, a nontimber forest product. Conservation Biology 21:106–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
FREDERICKSEN, N. J. & FREDERICKSEN, T. S. 2002. Terrestrial wildlife responses to logging and fire in a Bolivian tropical humid forest. Biodiversity and Conservation 11:27–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GHAZOUL, J. 2005. Pollen and seed dispersal among dispersed plants. Biological Reviews 80:413–443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
GONZÁLEZ-ZAMORA, A., ARROYO-RODRÍGUEZ, V., CHAVES, O. M., SÁNCHEZ-LÓPEZ, S., STONER, K. E. & RIBA-HERNÁNDEZ, P. 2009. Diet of spider monkeys (A. geoffroyi) in Mesoamerica: current knowledge and future directions. American Journal of Primatology 71:8–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
GUTIÉRREZ-GRANADOS, G. 2009. Efectos directos e indirectos de la tala selectiva sobre la diversidad vegetal y la interacción planta-mamífero en la selva maya de Quintana Roo. Ph.D. Dissertation, Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, México. 178 pp.Google Scholar
HEYDON, M. J. & BULLOH, P. 1997. Mousedeer densities in a tropical rainforest: the impact of selective logging. Journal of Applied Ecology 34:484–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOWE, H. F. & SMALLWOOD, J. 1982. Ecology of seed dispersal. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 13:201–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HURTT, G. C. & PACALA, S. W. 1995. The consequences of recruitment limitation: Reconciling chance. History and competitive differences between plants. Journal of Theoretical Biology 176:1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JANZEN, D. H. 1970. Herbivores and the number of tree species in tropical forest. American Naturalist 104:501–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNS, A. D. 1986. Effects of selective logging on the behavioral ecology of west Malaysian primates. Ecology 67:684–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNS, A. D. 1992. Effects of “selective” timber extraction on rain forest structure and composition and some consequences for frugivores and folivores. Biotropica 20:31–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNS, J. S., BARRETO, P. & UHL, C. 1996. Logging damage during planned and unplanned logging operations in the eastern Amazon. Forest Ecology and Management 89:59–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JORGENSON, J. P. 1993. Gardens, wildlife densities, and subsistence hunting by Maya Indians in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Florida. 337 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JORGENSON, J. P. 1998. The impact of hunting on wildlife in the Maya forest of Mexico. Pp. 179–194 in Primack, R. B., Bray, D., Galletti, H. A. & Ponciano, I. (eds.). Timber, tourist, and temples. Island Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
KÖHLER, P. & HUTH, A. 2007. Impacts of recruitment limitation and canopy disturbance on tropical tree species richness. Ecological Modeling 203:511–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LINK, A. & DI FIORE, A. 2006. Seed dispersal by spider monkeys and its importance in the maintenance of Neotropical rain-forest diversity. Journal of Tropical Ecology 22:235–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MULLER-LANDAU, H. C. 2007. Predicting the long-term effects of hunting on plant species composition and diversity in tropical forests. Biotropica 39:372–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NUÑEZ-ITURRI, G. & HOWE, H. F. 2007. Bushmeat and the fate of trees with seeds dispersed by large primates in a lowland rain forest in western Amazonia. Biotropica 39:348–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PACHECO, L. F. & SIMONETTI, J. A. 2000. Genetic structure of a mimosoid tree deprived of its seed disperser, the spider monkey. Conservation Biology 14:1766–1775.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
PENNINGTON, T. D. & SARUKHÁN, J. 1998. Árboles tropicales de México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y Fondo de Cultura Económica, México. 521 pp.Google Scholar
PERES, C. A. 2001. Synergistic effects of subsistence hunting and habitat fragmentation on Amazonian forest vertebrates. Conservation Biology 15:1490–1505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PERES, C. A. & PALACIOS, E. 2007. Basin-wide effects of game harvest and vertebrate populations densities in Amazonian forests: implications for animal-mediated seed dispersal. Biotropica 39:304–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PÉREZ-SALICRUP, D. R. 2004. Forest types and their implications. Pp. 63–80 in Turner, B. L., Geoghegan, J. & Foster, D. R. (eds.). Integrated land-change science and tropical deforestation in the southern Yucatán: final frontiers. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
PRESLEY, S. J., WILLIG, M. R., SALDANHA, L. N., WUNDERLE, J. M. & CASTRO-ARELLANO, I. 2009. Reduced-impact logging has little effect on temporal activity of frugivorous bats (Chiroptera) in Lowland Amazonia. Biotropica 41:369–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
REDFORD, K. H. 1992. The empty forest. Bioscience 42:412–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RUSSO, S. E. & AUGSPURGER, C. K. 2004. Aggregated seed dispersal by spider monkeys limits recruitment to clump recruitment to clumped patterns in Virola calophylla. Ecology Letters 7:1058–1067.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RUSSO, S. E., CAMPBELL, C. J., DEW, L., STEVENSON, P. R. & SUAREZ, S. A. 2005. A multi-forest comparison of dietary preferences and seed dispersal by A. geoffroyi spp. International Journal of Primatology 26:1017–1037.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
STEVENSON, P. R. & ALDANA, A. M. 2008. Potential effects of Ateline extinction and forest fragmentation on plant diversity and composition in the western Orinoco Basin, Colombia. International Journal of Primatology 29:365–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WEHNCKE, E., VALDEZ, C. N. & DOMÍNGUEZ, C. A. 2004. Seed dispersal and defecation patterns of Cebus capucinus and Alouatta palliata: consequences for seed dispersal effectiveness. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20:535–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WRIGHT, S. J. 2003. The myriad consequences of hunting for vertebrates and plants in tropical forest. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 6:73–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar