Seed Predation And Dispersal Of Cherry (Cerasus Pseudocerasus) By Animals In A Dujiangyan Subtropical Forest

Many animals such as frugivorous/granivious birds and rodents play very important roles in natural regeneration of many fruiting plants by predating and dispersing their fruits and seeds, but different animals have different potentials for this process. From April to May of 2005 in a subtropical ever-green broadleaved forest in the Dujiangyan Region of Sichuan Province, Southwest China, we preliminarily studied the dynamics of seed rain and seed bank of wild cherry (Cerasus pseudocerasus), and fruit/seed predation and dispersal by frugivorous birds and granivorous rodents. Meanwhile, we also studied how seed selection by rodents affects seed traits of wild cherry by comparing with domestic cherry. Main results and conclusions are listed below:1.The dynamics of seed rain and seed bank of cherry were investigated. The results show that seed rain varied greatly among individual trees; the components and their seed rain were also different among individuals; Seed predation and removal by rodents was the main factor to affect seed fate in seed bank since these rodents harvested nearly all the cherry seeds rapidly.2.Fruit predation and dispersal by frugivorous birds were preliminarily investigated. The results showed that there were over 10 bird species feeding on cherry fruits, including 5 dominant species,...