Number Of Fruit Species Research Articles

A RESEARCH ON FRUIT PRODUCTION POTANTIAL OF MARDIN PROVINCE

Mardin province is one of the oldest and rarest settlements with a number of religious cultural heritage where agricultural production emerged first. According to 2016 year statistics, it has a share of 0.11% in Turkey’s total fruit production which indicates that it is not a considerable fruit producer. Whereas, in this province, a number of fruit species can commercially be grown and cherry, pomegranate, pistachio, almond, olive and figs production is more prominent. Mardin has a terrestrial climate with considerably hot and dry summers, and cold winters. According to 2016 statistics total fruit production was realized to be 16.229 tons in Mardin. Considering the 2016 year total fruit production of Mardin districts, Kiziltepe, Omerli and Artuklu rank first, second and third with 3.424, 2.903 and 2.467 tons of fruit productions respectively as Mazidagi is the last with a production of 207 tons. Again, regarding the fruit production by species, 2.965 tons of pomegranate, 2.946 tons of cherry, 1.921 tons of pistachio, 1.888 tons of almond and 1.741 tons of olive were produced in Mardin in 2016. In this study, through presenting the existing status of the fruit production potential of the Mardin province, it was aimed to increase the awareness and set light to decision makers in future plans for making use of the existing fruit potential of Turkey.

河静黑叶猴果实性食物组成、选择及其对种子的扩散作用

The ecological environment of karst forests is highly fragile compared to other forest types.Seed dispersal is extremely important for karst forest,assisting in maintaining plant biodiversity,resulting in lower anti-interference ability and forest resilience.Langurs are believed to be significant dispersers of seed within some forests.The langurs′ diet consists mainly of leaves;however,fruits are an important supplement.Through their fruit feeding behavior,langurs that inhabit limestone forests are suspected to facilitate seed dispersal.This potentially means that they play a role in maintaining karst forest biodiversity.We investigated fruit selectivity and seed dispersal behavior of the Hatinh langur(Trachypithecus francoisi hatinhensis) in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park,Vietnam.Our study was undertaken from July 2009 to December 2010,where we used instantaneous scan sampling and direct observation.The Hatinh langurs were observed consuming fruit from 131 plant species.These species belonged to 38 different plant families.Hatinh langurs fed on a greater number of fruit-bearing plant species and for a longer peak duration compared to Franois′ langur living in other areas.This is because the abundance of numerous fruit resources in the rainforest of the National Park.The results of our analysis reflected the behavior of Hatinh langurs,which showed a relatively low selective preference of fruit species(-0.3S112 of fruit species 0.3).In addition,food resource availability of different fruit species did not significantly affect langur feeding intensity(r=-0.13,P= 0.150.05).However,we found that the number of fruit species and langur feeding intensity was greater in monsoon season compared with the dry season(z=-2.903,P=0.020.05).Hatinh langurs demonstrated preference feeding on berries and drupes(106 species of two fruit kinds,80.9% of fruit diet),as both are easily handled because of the large pericarp.These fruit are relatively large(104 species 5g of fruit weight,79.3% of fruit diet).Although fruit color varied,three colors were preferred by the langurs;yellow(46 species),red(30 species) and green(14 species) from a total of 90 fruits(68.7% of fruit diet).Hatinh langurs were able to swallow seeds(3cm) from 85 plant species and disperse seed up to 397m.They favored fleshly fruits such as Ficus benjamina,Vatica diospyroides,Broussonetia papyrifera,Allospondias lakonensis,Syzygium samarangense and Ficus hispida.This langur may play an important dispersal role in plant species with large thick-husked fruits,such as Syzygium jambos,Nephelium lappaceum and Baccaurea ramiflora.This is because frugivorous birds are unable to swallow the seed of such fruits.The feeding period of the langur on fruits sustains them for six months of the year.During the rainy season(August to December),the feeding intensity by the langur on fruit peaked,with monthly fecal seed counts being 1000.Our results suggest that the Hatinh langur plays a key role as a seed disperser enhancing the dispersal of large fruit plants.The correlation between monkeys and fruit plants may mean that the Hatinh langur has an important role maintaining the biodiversity in karst forests.

A preliminary report on feeding and nesting behavior of swamp gorillas in the Lac Télé Community Reserve

No abstract available

Diet and seasonal changes in sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees at Kahuzi–Biega National Park

Based on 8 years of observations of a group of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) and a unit-group of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) living sympatrically in the montane forest at Kahuzi-Biega National Park, we compared their diet and analyzed dietary overlap between them in relation to fruit phenology. Data on fruit consumption were collected mainly from fecal samples, and phenology of preferred ape fruits was estimated by monitoring. Totals of 231 plant foods (116 species) and 137 plant foods (104 species) were recorded for gorillas and chimpanzees, respectively. Among these, 38% of gorilla foods and 64% of chimpanzee foods were eaten by both apes. Fruits accounted for the largest overlap between them (77% for gorillas and 59% for chimpanzees). Gorillas consumed more species of vegetative foods (especially bark) exclusively whereas chimpanzees consumed more species of fruits and animal foods exclusively. Although the number of fruit species available in the montane forest of Kahuzi is much lower than that in lowland forest, the number of fruit species per chimpanzee fecal sample (average 2.7 species) was similar to that for chimpanzees in the lowland habitats. By contrast, the number of fruit species per gorilla fecal sample (average 0.8 species) was much lower than that for gorillas in the lowland habitats. Fruit consumption by both apes tended to increase during the dry season when ripe fruits were more abundant in their habitat. However, the number of fruit species consumed by chimpanzees did not change according to ripe fruit abundance. The species differences in fruit consumption may be attributed to the wide ranging of gorillas and repeated usage of a small range by chimpanzees and/or to avoidance of inter-specific contact by chimpanzees. The different staple foods (leaves and bark for gorillas and fig fruits for chimpanzees) characterize the dietary divergence between them in the montane forest of Kahuzi, where fruit is usually scarce. Gorillas rarely fed on insects, but chimpanzees occasionally fed on bees with honey, which possibly compensate for fruit scarcity. A comparison of dietary overlap between gorillas and chimpanzees across habitats suggests that sympatry may not influence dietary overlap in fruit consumed but may stimulate behavioral divergence to reduce feeding competition between them.

Fruits in the Diets of Neotropical Migrant Birds in Costa Rica

We used fecal samples collected from birds captured in mist nets to determine the occurrence of fruit in the diets of neotropical migrant birds (species that breed in North America and winter in Central and South America) at six study sites in Costa Rica. A total of 1016 migrants representing 30 species were captured. Fecal samples were collected from 85 percent of all birds captured. Fruits (seeds, pulp) occurred in 58 percent of all fecal samples; the proportion of fecal samples containing fruit ranged from 0 percent (9 species) to over 90 percent (9 species). Individual fecal samples contained seeds from as many as 4 species of plants. At least 98 plant species from at least 29 plant families were represented in fecal samples. Species of Melastomataceae accounted for 37 percent and those of Rubiaceae for 16 percent of all species recorded. Number of fruit species in diets of individual migrant species ranged from 0 (9 species) to 63 (Swainson's Thrush, Catharus ustulatus). Our data demonstrate that some migrants may rival permanent residents in the diversity of fruits they consume. A shift to increased frugivory in the late dry season, as birds were preparing to migrate north, was noted.