Comparing methods of acquiring mammalian endozoochorous seed dispersal distance distributions

Abstract

AbstractResearch on endozoochorous seed dispersal is needed to further understand plant ecology and evolution. There are several methods for calculating the distribution of seed dispersal distances, although many studies use the “combination of gut retention time and movement data” (CGM) method to determine the potential seed dispersal distance distribution (PSD). However, there have been no evaluations of between PSD values acquired by CGM and seed dispersal distance distributions calculated using other methods. The main purpose of this study was to compare methods of determining seed dispersal distance distributions using raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides). We calculated estimated seed dispersal distance distribution (ESD) using the bait‐marker method and PSD using the CGM method. There were no differences between the ESD and PSD results with regard to basic dispersal distance distributions. The results indicate that if the region from which animal movement data was acquired and the region from which markers for the bait‐marker method have been collected are the same, the distance distributions using the two methods may match. Additionally, though there were differences in seed mimic gut retention times (GRTs) between the two baits used (median GRT, fruits: 8 h 50 min, animal materials: 12 h 55 min), there were no differences in PSD between the two baits. This indicates that disperser movement has a stronger effect on dispersal distance distribution than GRT when using the CGM method.