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Abstract
ABSTRACT Frugivores and zoocoric trees represent an important proportion of tropical rainforest biodiversity. As niche differences favor species coexistence, we aimed to evaluate morphological and temporal niche segregation mechanisms among zoochoric trees and canopy frugivores in a tropical rainforest in the northeastern extreme of the Brazilian Amazon. We tested the effects of fruit morphology, tree size, frugivore body size and time of day on fruit consumption. We recorded the frugivore species that fed on 72 trees (44 species, 22 genera) and whether these frugivores swallowed the seeds. We monitored trees only once from 07:00 to 17:00 h between January and September 2017. We observed fruit consumption in 20 of the 72 trees. Seventy-three frugivore individuals from 22 species visited the trees. Heavier fruits were consumed by larger frugivores, while seed size was inversely correlated with frugivore size. Narrower fruits and fruits with smaller seeds had greater probability of having their seeds ingested, and larger frugivores were more prone to ingest seeds. Trees bearing fruits with smaller seeds were visited by a greater number of frugivores. Taxonomic groups differed in the time of arrival at fruiting trees. None of the evaluated variables (fruit weight and size, and seed size) affected the richness of frugivores that visited the trees. We concluded that, in the studied forest, fruit morphology (weight, size and seed size) is a niche segregation mechanism among zoochoric trees, while body size and time of day are niche segregation mechanisms among frugivores.
Highlights
Frugivory is an important ecological interaction in which animals gain food while plants may have their seeds dispersed. This relationship is critical in tropical forests, where between 62.1% and 93.5% of woody species are dependent on animals for seed dispersal (Jordano 2000)
Coinciding with fruit availability, frugivory was more prevalent in August and September, when we observed fruit consumption in 40% of the focal trees
We found that fruit morphology is a niche segregation mechanism among zoochoric trees at Amapá National Forest (ANF), a pattern that corroborates our hypotheses H1, H4, H5 and H6
Summary
Frugivory is an important ecological interaction in which animals gain food while plants may have their seeds dispersed. This relationship is critical in tropical forests, where between 62.1% and 93.5% of woody species are dependent on animals for seed dispersal (Jordano 2000). Birds and mammals are the main tropical frugivores and seed dispersers (Herrera 2002; Chen and Moles 2015) and may feed on up to 75% of the fruit species throughout the tropics (Uriarte et al 2011; Bello et al 2015). Primates are the main arboreal frugivores (Fleming and Kress 2011), and seed dispersal by primates is important since they can swallow larger seeds than most birds and bats (Gardner et al 2019)
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