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Gorillas and seed dispersal in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. I: Gorilla acquisition by trees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1999

Benedict C. Voysey
Affiliation:
Station d'Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzés (SEGC), BP 7847, Libreville, Gabon Institute for Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK.
Karen E McDonald
Affiliation:
Station d'Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzés (SEGC), BP 7847, Libreville, Gabon
M. Elizabeth Rogers
Affiliation:
Institute for Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK.
Caroline E. G. Tutin
Affiliation:
Station d'Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzés (SEGC), BP 7847, Libreville, Gabon
Richard J Parnell
Affiliation:
Station d'Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzés (SEGC), BP 7847, Libreville, Gabon

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla Savage & Wyman) are highly frugivorous and expel in their dung viable seeds of many fruit species they consume. As part of a wider study of their role as seed dispersers in tropical rain forest, the importance of gorillas as consumers of three species of tropical tree was investigated. The species studied were Ganophyllum giganteum (Sapindaceae), Cola lizae (Sterculiaceae) and Uapaca guineensis (Euphorbiaceae). Gorillas swallowed large quantites of seeds of these species whenever they were available, and removed a considerable proportion of the crop from trees they visited. The differences in abundance and distribution of these trees, and their varied dispersal strategies influenced the quantity of seeds that was removed by gorillas. Uapaca can be seen as having a generalist fruiting strategy, with a wide range of consumers, whereas the other species are more specialist, gorillas being the principal dispersers. Compared to other consumers, this study showed that gorillas provided potentially high quality dispersal because: (i) they were reliable visitors to trees of these species; (ii) they swallowed and dispersed large numbers of seeds; (iii) they treated seeds benignly and often deposited them in sites favourable for establishment.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1999 Cambridge University Press

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