Monteza-Moreno Claudio M, Rodriguez-Castro Lilisbeth, Castillo-Caballero Pedro L, Toribio Edgar, Saltonstall Kristin
Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Konstanz Germany.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama City Panama.
Ecol Evol. 2022 Mar 24;12(3):e8769. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8769. eCollection 2022 Mar.
Epiphytic lifestyles have evolved independently in ecologically, morphologically, and taxonomically diverse plant species. Although this adaptation is widespread among angiosperms, it is only known to have arisen in a single gymnosperm species, (Cycadophyta). is endemic to the mountains of Western Panama, and little is known about the ecology of this unusual cycad. Here, we provide the first report of a potential seed disperser of . . Between late October 2019 and March 2020, we conducted arboreal camera trapping at three sites along the Talamanca Cordillera in Western Panama, yielding an accumulated survey effort of 271 camera days. Weekly direct observations were also performed using handheld binoculars at one site. Arboreal camera trapping revealed at least seven mammal species that visit this epiphytic cycad. At all three sites, the Northern olingo () was seen visiting individuals of . repeatedly, both while cones were closed and after they had opened. We estimated the time-varying intensity of the visits throughout our sampling and used mixed models to compare the length of visits when cones were closed versus when they were open. Both duration and time-varying intensity of visits increased after cones had opened and we documented Northern olingo removing and carrying away seeds. We also observed predation by the yellow-eared toucanet () which picked and destroyed mature . seeds. These results suggest that the Northern olingo could be an important seed dispersal agent for this rare epiphytic gymnosperm.
附生生活方式已在生态、形态和分类学上多样的植物物种中独立进化。尽管这种适应性在被子植物中很普遍，但仅在一种裸子植物（苏铁纲）中被发现。 是巴拿马西部山区特有的，人们对这种不寻常的苏铁的生态了解甚少。在这里，我们首次报告了一种潜在的种子传播者。2019年10月下旬至2020年3月期间，我们在巴拿马西部塔拉曼卡山脉沿线的三个地点进行了树上相机诱捕，累计调查时长为271个相机日。还在一个地点使用手持双筒望远镜进行了每周一次的直接观察。树上相机诱捕发现至少有七种哺乳动物会造访这种附生苏铁。在所有三个地点，都观察到北方伶猴（ ）反复造访 的个体，无论是球果闭合时还是球果开放后。我们估计了整个采样过程中造访强度随时间的变化，并使用混合模型比较了球果闭合时和开放时的造访时长。球果开放后，造访的持续时间和随时间变化的强度都增加了，并且我们记录到北方伶猴移除并带走了种子。我们还观察到黄耳小巨嘴鸟（ ）的捕食行为，它啄食并破坏了成熟的 种子。这些结果表明，北方伶猴可能是这种珍稀附生裸子植物的重要种子传播媒介。
