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Seed dispersal of Syzygium oblatum (Myrtaceae) by two species of fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx and Rousettus leschenaulti) in South-West China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2012

Zhan-Hui Tang ,
Jian-Ling Xu ,
Jon Flanders ,
Xue-Mei Ding ,
Xun-Feng Ma ,
Lian-Xi Sheng  and
Min Cao
Zhan-Hui Tang
Affiliation:
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Yunnan 666303, China Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, State Environment Protection Administration/School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, North East Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Jian-Ling Xu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, State Environment Protection Administration/School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, North East Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Jon Flanders
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK
Xue-Mei Ding
Affiliation:
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China
Xun-Feng Ma
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, State Environment Protection Administration/School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, North East Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Lian-Xi Sheng*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, State Environment Protection Administration/School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, North East Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Min Cao*
Affiliation:
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Yunnan 666303, China
*
1Corresponding authors. Email: shenglx@nenu.edu.cn or caom@xtbg.ac.cn
1Corresponding authors. Email: shenglx@nenu.edu.cn or caom@xtbg.ac.cn
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Abstract:

In this study we investigated the importance of two species of fruit bat (Rousettus leschenaulti and Cynopterus sphinx) as seed dispersers for a species of fruit tree (Syzygium oblatum) found in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in South-West China. We found that although R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx were the two primary seed dispersers of S. oblatum over half of the fruit produced by the tree (65%) fell to the ground. Out of the fruit collected, R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx were able to disperse seeds up to 73 m from the parent tree with the highest density of feeding roosts occurring at 21.3 m (SE = 5.2 m). We found no signs that either species of bat used the parent tree as a feeding roost, instead choosing specific trees that were at lower densities compared with other trees in the forest that were not used. When comparing the viability of seeds in three different habitats (under parent tree, in forest gap, under feeding roost) survival analysis revealed that seedling survival was significantly higher in the forest gap (91.7% ± 4.41%) than under the parent tree (78.3% ± 1.67%), but was not significantly different to seedling survival underneath feeding roosts (86.7 ± 1.67%). Further work also showed that the seeds did not have to be removed from the fruit or ingested by the bat in order to germinate. We conclude that although S. oblatum is not dependent on R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx for successful germination of its seeds, these two species of bat are important seed dispersers and can move seeds to areas where there is a greater chance of germination success and survival.

Keywords

Cynopterus sphinxfruit batRousettus leschenaultiseed dispersalSyzygium oblatum
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , May 2012 , pp. 255 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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