Seed dispersal by a diurnal primate community in the Dja Reserve, Cameroon

By J. Poulsen, C. Clark, T. Smith. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 2001

122 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Multiple species of primate disperse seeds and differentially contribute to the seed rain in tropical forests. The goal of this study was to examine seed dispersal by a primate community of five monkey and two ape species in the Dja Reserve, Cameroon. The density of primates in the reserve was calculated to be 77 individuals km-2. Analysis of 5789 faecal clumps demonstrated that 40% of monkey and 74% of ape faecal clumps possessed whole seeds. Six of the seven focal species acted as seed dispersers; faecal clumps passed by the black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) did not contain any whole seeds during the study. Seed passage trials on four captive monkey species showed monkeys to have an average seed passage time of 22 hours and defecation rate of five times per day. From the above results, the primate community was estimated to defecate 1129 seeds km-2 d-1. Seeds passed by the primate community came from 125 species of trees, lianas and shrubs, equivalent to at least 34% of the known tree flora. Rarefaction curves indicated that additional collection effort would identify more seed species passed by primates. Germination studies demonstrated that primate-passed seeds are viable. The number of seeds and plant species dispersed suggests that the primate community plays an important role in the maintenance of forest structure.

Subfields: Developmental Biology, Ecology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/822584be75622e35c74ed0e385466b49471202e4

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Developmental Biology

1. J. Poulsen
2. C. Clark
3. T. Smith
4. S. Blake

In Ecology

1. Benjamin M. Bolker
2. J. Poulsen
3. C. Clark
4. V. T. Parker
5. E. Connor
6. C. Violle
7. Benjamin C. Wang
8. V. Sork

In Social Psychology

1. J. Poulsen
2. C. Clark
3. V. T. Parker
4. Benjamin M. Bolker
5. E. Connor
6. M. Galetti
7. S. Blake

Citations in the corpus

• Densities, Distributions, and Seasonal Movements of Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Swamp Forest in Northern Congo (2004, background): “In the Dja Reserve, Cameroon, chimpanzees frequently consumed the succulent fruits of Uapaca, with 40% of their fecal clumps containing intact seeds (Poulsen et al., 2001).”
• Megafauna extinction, tree species range reduction, and carbon storage in Amazonian forests (2016, background): “%) because in Africa, studies with elephants have found that 30% of the diet (Short 1981) is fruit of ∼ 70–90 different species (Poulsen et al. 2001, Blake et al. 2009).”
• Forest Elephants: Tree Planters of the Congo (2009, background): “The maximum recorded distance traveled by gray-cheeked mangabeys in the Dja Forest during a gut passage time was 2.2 km (mean 1.2 km) (Poulsen et al. 2001) and even large hornbills move at most about 7 km during one gut passage or regurgitation time (Holbrook & Smith 2000).”
• COMPARATIVE SEED SHADOWS OF BIRD‐, MONKEY‐, AND WIND‐DISPERSED TREES (2005, methodology): “Previous studies of bird movement and seed dispersal by birds and monkeys (Holbrook and Smith 2000, Poulsen et al. 2001, Clark et al. 2004) demonstrated that birds dispersed seeds farther and in more contagious patterns than monkeys.”
• Hunting of Mammals Reduces Seed Removal and Dispersal of the Afrotropical Tree Antrocaryon klaineanum (Anacardiaceae) (2007, methodology): “—Arboreal frugivores (largebodied birds and primates) were censused using modified line transects in 1999 and 2004, following methods described by Whitney and Smith (1998), Poulsen et al. (2001), and Wang and Smith (in review).”