Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
INTRODUCTION
The study of frugivore feeding ecology is an important part of tropical biology because frugivores are among the predominant groups of tropical vertebrates in terms of species diversity and biomass. Fluctuating resource availabilities throughout the year dictate, for most frugivores, variable diets that may include leaves, fruits, flowers and seeds, as well as animal matter. Identifying food plant taxa and parts eaten is a central part of this research, and these tasks can be quite complicated when one is studying canopy-living animals in regions with diverse flora. The primary sources of information on these diets are accurate, detailed observation of feeding behaviours, the collection and classification of feeding remains, and faecal contents analysis.
Frugivores such as primates are often described as important ecological interactors (mutualists) because of their role as seed dispersers. To date, however, few studies have documented clearly the actual importance of these animals to the fleshy fruited plants on which they feed. Studying plant and animal strategies simultaneously is no simple task, but doing so provides new perspectives on botany, feeding ecology, digestive physiology, co-evolution and plant–animal interdependence, which may provide valuable tools for conservation. Particularly in the tropics, the study of endozoochory remains one area in which the dedicated natural historian still has much to reveal to the world of science. For these reasons, frugivory and seed dispersal remain topics ripe for exploration.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.