Fleming Theodore H
Department of Biology, University of Miami, 33124, Coral Gables, Florida, USA.
Oecologia. 1981 Oct;51(1):42-46. doi: 10.1007/BF00344650.
This paper describes the nightly and seasonal production of ripe fruit by Piper amalago (Piperaceae), a patchily distributed, bat-dispersed forest shrub, at Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, Costa Rica. Phenological observations over several years indicate that individuals produce a low (usually 1-3) and variable number of ripe fruit each night for 3-4 wks in the early wet season (June and July). Observations of the disappearance rates of marked fruits and fruit manipulation experiments indicate that fruit removal probabilities are high (often nearly 1.0) and independent of nightly and seasonal ripe fruit crop size. Data from previous feeding and foraging studies of the bat Carollia perspicillata (Phyllostomidae) are used to estimate the mobility of P. amalago's seeds. Most seeds (>90%) are deposited ≧50 m from parent plants under night feeding roosts. Relatively few seeds move >300 m, and movements this long are more likely to occur early and late in the fruiting season when bats change feeding sites more frequently. Seed experiments indicate that P. amalago seedling establishment probabilities are higher in light gaps than under forest canopy. The dispersal quality (sensu McKey 1975) of P. amalago's chiropteran seed dispersers is directly proportional to the number of seeds they excrete in actual or incipient light gaps.
本文描述了哥斯达黎加圣罗莎国家公园内胡椒科植物阿玛拉戈胡椒（Piper amalago）夜间和季节性成熟果实的产量。阿玛拉戈胡椒是一种分布不均、由蝙蝠传播种子的森林灌木。多年的物候观测表明，在雨季初期（6月和7月）的3 - 4周时间里，植株每晚结出的成熟果实数量较少（通常为1 - 3个）且数量不定。对标记果实消失率的观测以及果实操控实验表明，果实被移除的概率很高（通常接近1.0），且与夜间和季节性成熟果实的产量大小无关。利用先前关于食果蝙蝠白喉墓蝠（Carollia perspicillata，叶口蝠科）觅食和搜寻的研究数据，来估计阿玛拉戈胡椒种子的传播范围。大多数种子（>90%）被散布在距离母株≧50米的夜间觅食栖息地下方。相对较少的种子移动超过300米，而且这种远距离移动更有可能发生在结果季节的早期和晚期，此时蝙蝠更频繁地更换觅食地点。种子实验表明，阿玛拉戈胡椒种子在林中空地的成苗概率高于林冠下。阿玛拉戈胡椒的翼手目种子传播者的传播质量（参照麦基1975年的定义）与它们在实际或初始林中空地排出的种子数量成正比。
