Estimates of the Number of Seeds Dispersed by a Population of Primates in a Lowland Forest in Western Amazonia

摘要

In order to assess the impact of seed dispersal on plant populations, it is necessary to take into account all components of seed dispersal effectiveness, including the quality and the quantity of seeds dispersed (Schupp, 1993). Seed dispersal qualityhas two components. First, quality depends on the kind of treatment that the seeds receive when they are manipulated and treated in the mouth and digestive tract of the animal. Second, quality depends also on the conditions of the location where they are deposited and the characteristics of deposition itself. For instance, theoretical models and empirical studies in tropical forests have demonstrated an advantage in recruitment success when seeds fall away from conspecific trees, although this is not always true and there is wide species-specific variation in this pattern (Hamilton and May, 1977; Wills et al., 1997; Wills and Condit, 1999; Terborgh et al, 2002; Wright, 2002 and references therein).