Forest Seeds Dispersal And Hoarding By Rodent In Mt. Wangwu Area, Jiyuan, China

Many animals such as birds and rodents can eat and dispersal plant seeds or fruits, which may thereby affect the seeds spatiotemporal distribution, this avoid the competition with there mother trees, and high level eaten by animals. Some seeds which are scattering-hoarding by rodents in the suitable place may germination. This is very good for the deforested area restoration.Taking the State-owned Yugong Forest Farm in Jiyuan of Henan, China as study sire, the tagged seeds of wild apricot were artificially released in secondary forest, rehabilitated land, shrub in the spring, summer, autumn 2009, aimed to investigate their dispersal and hoarding by rodents in different season and habitat. The tagged seeds of Cork oak were released in secondary forest, rehabilitated land, shrub in the autumn 2009, aimed to investigate their dispersal and hoarding by rodents in different habitat, which can give some useful advices for ecological restoration.Main results and conclusions are listed below:1)It was found that Apodemus peninsula, Niviventer confucianus, Apodemus agrarius, Cricetulus triton were the main rodent species acting on the seeds dispersal and hoarding. The numbers of rodents were significantly lower in spring than in summer, and also, in summer than in autumn;the number of rodents was significantly lower in secondary forest than in rehabilitated land, and also, in rehabilitated land than in shrub.2)The dispersal and hoarding of wild apricot seeds were significantly affected by season and habitat. The mean transportation distance in the secondary forest was shorter than in rehabilitated land and shrub, and the rodents preferred hoarding wild apricot seeds in secondary forest and eating in rehabilitated land, shrub;the dispersal rate was significantly lower in spring than in summer, and also, in summer than in autumn, the rodents preferred hoarding seeds in the autumn and eating in summer and spring.3)The dispersal and hoarding of cork oak seeds were significantly affected by habitat. Rodent ate a lot of cork oak seeds in the situation in rehabilitated land and shrub, but ate a few seeds in secondary forest.4)There were significant difference between cork oak and wild apricot on seed consumption and hoarding in different habitats. The dispersal rate of cork oak seeds was significantly lower than wild apricot seeds, and rodents preferred eating cork oak seeds and hoarding wild apricot seeds; the mean transportation distance of cork oak seeds was shorted than wild apricot seeds, which may affect seed germination of two plant species in the next year.