Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T12:31:05.216Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Successful germination of seeds following passage through orang-utan guts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2011

Nynne H. Nielsen ,
Magnus W. Jacobsen ,
Laura L. L. B. Graham ,
Helen C. Morrogh-Bernard ,
Laura J. D'Arcy  and
Mark E. Harrison
Nynne H. Nielsen
Affiliation:
Biological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Orang-utan Tropical Peatland Project, Centre for the International Cooperation in Tropical Peatlands, Universitas Palangka Raya, Jl. Yos Sudarso, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Magnus W. Jacobsen
Affiliation:
Biological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Orang-utan Tropical Peatland Project, Centre for the International Cooperation in Tropical Peatlands, Universitas Palangka Raya, Jl. Yos Sudarso, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Laura L. L. B. Graham
Affiliation:
Geography Department, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Helen C. Morrogh-Bernard
Affiliation:
Orang-utan Tropical Peatland Project, Centre for the International Cooperation in Tropical Peatlands, Universitas Palangka Raya, Jl. Yos Sudarso, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Laura J. D'Arcy
Affiliation:
Orang-utan Tropical Peatland Project, Centre for the International Cooperation in Tropical Peatlands, Universitas Palangka Raya, Jl. Yos Sudarso, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
Mark E. Harrison*
Affiliation:
Orang-utan Tropical Peatland Project, Centre for the International Cooperation in Tropical Peatlands, Universitas Palangka Raya, Jl. Yos Sudarso, Palangka Raya 73112, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia Wildlife Research Group, The Anatomy School, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
*
1Corresponding author. Email: harrison_me@hotmail.com.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Orang-utans (Pongo spp.) are primarily frugivorous (Morrogh-Bernard et al. 2009) and are often regarded as important seed dispersers (Corlett 1998). In Tanjung Puting, Borneo, Galdikas (1982) found intact seeds in 94% of faecal samples, with a median 111 seeds per defecation; and in Ketambe, Sumatra, Rijksen (1978) found seeds in 44% of faecal samples. Furthermore, orang-utans have large day ranges (e.g. mean = 968 m, range = 280–2834 m across adults in Sabangau; Harrison 2009) and slow passage rates of digesta through the gut (Caton et al. 1999), and, hence, may disperse seeds far from parent trees. Many seeds are also spat out or discarded at distances up to 75 m from parent trees (Galdikas 1982).

Keywords

ApeBorneoIndonesiapeat-swamp forestPongoSabangauseed dispersalseed germination
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , July 2011 , pp. 433 - 435
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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

CATON, J. M., HUME, I. D., HILL, D. M. & HARPER, P. 1999. Digesta retention in the gastro-intestinal tract of the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Primates 40:551–558.Google Scholar
CORLETT, R. T. 1998. Frugivory and seed dispersal by vertebrates in the Oriental (Indomalayan) Region. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 73:413–448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
CORLETT, R. T. 2009. The ecology of tropical East Asia. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 272 pp.Google Scholar
GALDIKAS, B. M. F. 1982. Orangutans as seed dispersers at Tanjung Puting, Central Kalimantan: implications for conservation. Pp. 285–298 in de Boer, L. E. M. (ed.). The orangutan: its biology and conservation. Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.Google Scholar
GROSS-CAMP, N. & KAPLIN, B. A. 2005. Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) seed dispersal in an Afromontane forest: microhabitat influences on the postdispersal fate of large seeds. Biotropica 37:641–649.Google Scholar
HARRISON, M. E. 2009. Orang-utan feeding behaviour in Sabangau, Central Kalimantan. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
IDANI, G. 1986. Seed dispersal by pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus): a preliminary report. Primates 27:441–447.Google Scholar
MCCONKEY, K. R. 2000. Primary seed shadow generated by gibbons in the rainforests of Barito Ulu, Central Borneo. American Journal of Primatology 52:13–29.3.0.CO;2-Y>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MORROGH-BERNARD, H. C., HUSSON, S. J., KNOTT, C. D., WICH, S. A., VAN SCHAIK, C. P., VAN NOORDWIJK, M. A., LACKMAN-ANCRENAZ, I., MARSHALL, A. J., KANAMORI, T., KUZE, N. & SAKONG, R. B. 2009. Orangutan activity budgets and diet: a comparison between species, populations and habitats. Pp. 119–133 in Wich, S. A., Utami Atmoko, S. S., Mitra Setia, T. & van Schaik, C. P. (eds.). Orangutans: geographic variation in behavioral ecology and conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
POULSEN, J. R., CLARK, C. J. & SMITH, T. B. 2001. Seed dispersal by a diurnal primate community in the Dja Reserve, Cameroon. Journal of Tropical Ecology 17:787–808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RIJKSEN, H. D. 1978. A field study on Sumatran orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii Lesson 1827): ecology, behavior and conservation. Veenman and Zonen, Wageningen. 421 pp.Google Scholar
RUSSON, A. E., WICH, S. A., ANCRENAZ, M., KANAMORI, T., KNOTT, C. D., KUZE, N., MORROGH-BERNARD, H. C., PRATJE, P., RAMLEE, H., RODMAN, P. S., SAWANG, A., SIDIYASA, K., SINGLETON, I. & VAN SCHAIK, C. P. 2009. Geographic variations in orangutan diets. Pp. 135–155 in Wich, S. A., Utami Atmoko, S. S., Mitra Setia, T. & van Schaik, C. P. (eds.). Orangutans: geographic variation in behavioral ecology and conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
WRANGHAM, R. W., CHAPMAN, C. A. & CHAPMAN, L. J. 1994. Seed dispersal by forest chimpanzees in Uganda. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:355–368.Google Scholar