Mertl-Millhollen Anne S, Blumenfeld-Jones Kathryn, Raharison Sahoby Marin, Tsaramanana Donald Raymond, Rasamimanana Hantanirina
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97401, USA.
Primates. 2011 Oct;52(4):391-6. doi: 10.1007/s10329-011-0253-7. Epub 2011 Jun 1.
In Madagascar, the gallery forests of the south are among the most endangered. Tamarind trees (Tamarindus indica) dominate these riverine forests and are a keystone food resource for ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). At Berenty Reserve, the presence of tamarind trees is declining, and there is little recruitment of young trees. Because mature tamarinds inhibit growth under their crowns, seeds must be dispersed away from adult trees if tree recruitment is to occur. Ring-tailed lemurs are likely seed dispersers; however, because they spend much of their feeding, siesta, and sleeping time in tamarinds, they may defecate a majority of the tamarind seeds under tamarind trees. To determine whether they disperse tamarind seeds away from overhanging tamarind tree crowns, we observed two troops for 10 days each, noted the locations of feeding and defecation, and collected seeds from feces and fruit for germination. We also collected additional data on tamarind seedling recruitment under natural conditions, in which seedling germination was abundant after extensive rain, including under the canopy. However, seedling survival to 1 year was lower when growing under mature tamarind tree crowns than when growing away from an overhanging crown. Despite low fruit abundance averaging two fruits/m(3) in tamarind crowns, lemurs fed on tamarind fruit for 32% of their feeding samples. Daily path lengths averaged 1,266 m, and lemurs deposited seeds throughout their ranges. Fifty-eight percent of the 417 recorded lemur defecations were on the ground away from overhanging tamarind tree crowns. Tamarind seeds collected from both fruit and feces germinated. Because lemurs deposited viable seeds on the ground away from overhanging mature tamarind tree crowns, we conclude that ring-tailed lemurs provide tamarind tree seed dispersal services.
在马达加斯加，南部的长廊林是最濒危的森林之一。罗望子树（罗望子）在这些河边森林中占主导地位，是环尾狐猴（狐猴）的关键食物资源。在贝伦蒂自然保护区，罗望子树的数量正在减少，幼树的补充也很少。由于成熟的罗望子树会抑制其树冠下的生长，如果要实现树木的补充，种子必须从成年树上传播出去。环尾狐猴可能是种子传播者；然而，由于它们大部分的觅食、午睡和睡眠时间都在罗望子树上度过，它们可能会将大部分罗望子种子排泄在罗望子树下。为了确定它们是否将罗望子种子传播到悬垂的罗望子树冠之外，我们分别观察了两群环尾狐猴10天，记录了它们觅食和排便的位置，并从粪便和果实中收集种子用于发芽实验。我们还收集了自然条件下罗望子幼苗补充的其他数据，在大量降雨后，包括树冠下，幼苗发芽情况很丰富。然而，在成熟罗望子树冠下生长的幼苗存活到1年的比例低于远离悬垂树冠生长的幼苗。尽管罗望子树冠中果实平均丰度较低，每立方米只有两个果实，但狐猴在32%的觅食样本中以罗望子果实为食。每日平均路径长度为1266米，狐猴在其活动范围内都有种子沉积。在记录的417次狐猴排便中，58%是在远离悬垂罗望子树冠的地面上。从果实和粪便中收集的罗望子种子都能发芽。由于狐猴将有活力的种子排泄在远离悬垂成熟罗望子树冠的地面上，我们得出结论，环尾狐猴为罗望子树提供了种子传播服务。
