Zanette E M, Fuzessy L F, Hack R O E, Monteiro-Filho E L A
Zoology Department, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
Zoology Department, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.
Primates. 2020 May;61(3):495-505. doi: 10.1007/s10329-020-00796-4. Epub 2020 Feb 5.
Primates are great fruit consumers and disperse intact seeds from most of the plants they consume, but effective seed dispersal depends, amongst other factors, on handling behavior. Likewise, the treatment in gut and mouth may alter seed fate. Overall, frugivore and folivore-frugivore primates are recognized to provide beneficial gut treatment for Neotropical plant species, but this effect might be overlooked at species-specific levels. In this study, we assessed the role of the southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides), an endangered and endemic primate living in restricted fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, on potential quality of seed dispersal of native plants. Our main goals were to understand the effect of seed ingestion by this large-bodied atelid on germination of defecated seeds and in seed recovery by offering wild fruits of native species to captive individuals. We found that seven out of nine plant species were defecated intact and were able to germinate. Of those seven, one species showed enhanced and another showed decreased germination potential after defecation, while three species germinated faster after being defecated. The remaining species showed no differences from control seeds. The two non-germinating species were heavily predated, and average seed recovery was lower than expected, suggesting high levels of seed predation. The largest species offered (Inga vulpina) showed the highest dispersal potential. Our data support an overall neutral or potentially positive role of southern muriquis in seed dispersal quality for seven out of nine Atlantic Forest plant species, highlighting these primates' potential to produce an effective seed rain.
灵长类动物是大量的果实消费者，它们会将所食用的大多数植物的完整种子传播出去，但有效的种子传播除其他因素外，还取决于处理行为。同样，在肠道和口腔中的处理可能会改变种子的命运。总体而言，食果性和食叶 - 食果性灵长类动物被认为能为新热带植物物种提供有益的肠道处理，但这种影响在物种特定水平上可能被忽视。在本研究中，我们评估了南方绒毛蛛猴（Brachyteles arachnoides），一种生活在巴西大西洋森林有限片段中的濒危特有灵长类动物，对本地植物种子传播潜在质量的作用。我们的主要目标是通过向圈养个体提供本地物种的野生果实，了解这种大型蛛猴科动物摄入种子对排出种子萌发以及种子回收率的影响。我们发现，九种植物中有七种种子完整排出并能够萌发。在这七种植物中，一种植物排出后萌发潜力增强，另一种则降低，而三种植物排出后萌发更快。其余物种与对照种子无差异。两种未萌发的物种被大量捕食，平均种子回收率低于预期，表明种子捕食水平较高。所提供的最大物种（英加狐猴豆）显示出最高的传播潜力。我们的数据支持南方绒毛蛛猴对九种大西洋森林植物物种中的七种在种子传播质量方面总体上具有中性或潜在的积极作用，突出了这些灵长类动物产生有效种子雨的潜力。
