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Seed dispersal and predation in two populations of Cabralea canjerana (Meliaceae) in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Marco Aurélio Pizo
Marco Aurélio Pizo
Affiliation:
Departamento de Zoologia, I.B., CP 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil
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Abstract

The seed dispersal system of a neotropical tree, Cabralea canjerana (Meliaceae), was studied in two forested areas in southeastern Brazil. The first study site, Parque Estadual Intervales (PEI), is a 49,000-ha reserve composed mostly of old-growth Atlantic rain forest. The second site, Mata de Santa Genebra (MSG), is a 250-ha fragment of old-secondary semideciduous forest whose present bird fauna differs markedly from the original, in part as a consequence of forest fragmentation. At PEI 35 bird species ate the diaspores of C. canjerana. Black-tailed tityra (Tityra cayana, Tyrannidae) was the main seed disperser, but several other species were also important seed dispersers. In contrast, at MSG C. canjerana diaspores were eaten by 14 bird species. At this area, the red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus, Vireonidae) was the most important seed disperser, but it was also a ‘waster’ which dropped seeds beneath parent plants, or carried them to sites unsuitable for germination. At PEI, exposed seeds on the forest floor were heavily preyed upon by rodents and insects. Insects destroyed mainly seeds deposited near to parent plants. Insect predation was less intense at MSG than at PEI. The rodent density at MSG was unusually small, and part of the post-dispersal seed predation may be done by terrestrial birds, such as doves and tinamous, which are especially common at MSG. Some of the differences recorded between the seed dispersal systems of C. canjerana at PEI and MSG may have been the result of the fragmentation and isolation of the latter area.

Keywords

Atlantic forestBrazilCabraleaforest fragmentationMeliaceaeornithochoryseed dispersalseed predation
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , July 1997 , pp. 559 - 577
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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