Wildlife of the Tamaulipan Brush in the Dispersion of Chapote (Diospyros Texana Scheele) Seeds

Abstract

In nature, all seeds need external agents (biotic or abiotic) to ensure their movement. Dispersion mechanisms turn out to be an essential factor in the natural distribution of plant species and in the mobilization and exchange of genetic material within and outside populations. The objective of this research was to analyze the interaction that the native wildlife in the Tamaulipas scrub has with the fruit of one of the species of the “Chapote” plant species (Diospyros texana) and its contribution to the dispersal of seeds. The research was carried out at the Experimental Campus of the Faculty of Forest Sciences of the UANL, Mexico, located in the municipality of Linares, NL, Mexico, during the month of July and August 2019. The method used was by means of photo-trapping to monitor the fauna that interacts with the species in question. It was possible to conclude that the average distance of distribution of excreta with seeds of Diospyrus texana was three meters. Some members of the wild fauna of mammals present in the vegetation of the Tamulipec scrub were white-tailed rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), gray squirrel (Sciurus aureogaster), raccoon (Procyon lotor), armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) and coyote (Canis latrans); they feed on the fruits of Diospyrus texana and thus act as dispersers of its seeds. Key words: dispersal, facilitation, wildlife, seeds, Diospyros