Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T21:31:28.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dung beetles are critical in preventing post-dispersal seed removal by rodents in Congo rain forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2012

David Beaune ,
Loïc Bollache ,
François Bretagnolle  and
Barbara Fruth
David Beaune*
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Primatology, Leipzig, Germany Laboratoire Biogéosciences, UMR CNRS 6282, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
Loïc Bollache
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Biogéosciences, UMR CNRS 6282, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
François Bretagnolle
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Biogéosciences, UMR CNRS 6282, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
Barbara Fruth
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Primatology, Leipzig, Germany
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Dung beetles (Scarabaeidae subfamily Scarabaeinae) are ubiquitous and play an important role in the removal of animal dung and the dispersal of seeds embedded therein. They exhibit a range of dung-acquisition and burying behaviours, from burying dung directly beneath the dung deposit to rolling dung balls up to several metres. Dung beetles act as important agents for secondary seed dispersal and seed survival: the burial of seeds is said to be of advantage against predators and desiccation (Andresen & Feer 2005, Culot et al. 2009, Feer 1999). In addition, burial of seeds by dung beetles is considered beneficial as seeds are not only deposited within the range of depths that are favourable for seedling establishment but also among organic fertilizer that is said to increase seedling growth rates (Andresen 1999, 2002; Estrada & Coates-Estrada 1991, Shepherd & Chapman 1998).

Keywords

Democratic Republic of CongoCricetomys eminidung beetleScarabaeidaesecondary dispersalseed predationzoochory
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 28 , Issue 5 , September 2012 , pp. 507 - 510
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ANDRESEN, E. 1999. Seed dispersal by monkeys and the fate of dispersed seeds in a Peruvian rain forest. Biotropica 31:145–158.Google Scholar
ANDRESEN, E. 2002. Primary seed dispersal by red howler monkeys and the effect of defecation patterns on the fate of dispersed seeds. Biotropica 34:261–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ANDRESEN, E. & FEER, F. 2005. The role of dung beetles as secondary seed dispersers and their effect on plant regeneration in tropical rainforests. Pp. 331–349 in Forget, P.-M., Lambert, J. E., Hulme, P. E. & Vander Wall, S. B. (eds.). Seed fate: predation, dispersal, and seedling establishment. CAB International, Wallingford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ANDRESEN, E. & LEVEY, D. J. 2004. Effects of dung and seed size on secondary dispersal, seed predation, and seedling establishment of rain forest trees. Oecologia 139:45–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
BEAUNE, D., BOLLACHE, L., FRUTH, B. & BRETAGNOLLE, F. In press. Bush pig (Potamochoerus porcus) seed predation of bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis) and other plant species in Democratic Republic of Congo. African Journal of Ecology.Google Scholar
CRAWLEY, M. J. 1992. Seed predators and plant population dynamics. Pp. 157–191 in Fenner, M. (ed.). Seeds: the ecology of regeneration in plant communities. CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
CULOT, L., HUYNEN, M. C., GÉRARD, P. & HEYMANN, E. W. 2009. Short-term post-dispersal fate of seeds defecated by two small primate species (Saguinus mystax and Saguinus fuscicollis) in the Amazonian forest of Peru. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25:229–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CULOT, L., MANN, D. J., MUÑOZ LAZO, F. J. J., HUYNEN, M.-C. & HEYMANN, E. W. 2011. Tamarins and dung beetles: an efficient diplochorous dispersal system in the Peruvian Amazonia. Biotropica 43:84–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ESTRADA, A. & COATES-ESTRADA, R. 1991. Howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), dung beetles (Scarabaeidae) and seed dispersal: ecological interactions in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7:459–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FEER, F. 1999. Effects of dung beetles (Scarabaeidae) on seeds dispersed by howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) in the French Guianan rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:129–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOHMANN, G. & FRUTH, B. 2003. Lui Kotal – a new site for field research on bonobos in the Salonga National Park. Pan Africa News 10:25–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LAWSON, C. R., MANN, D. J. & LEWIS, O. T. 2012. Dung beetles reduce clustering of tropical tree seedlings. Biotropica 44:271–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NYIRAMANA, A., MENDOZA, I., KAPLIN, B. A. & FORGET, P.-M. 2011. Evidence for seed dispersal by rodents in tropical montane forest in Africa. Biotropica 43:654–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SANTOS-HEREDIA, C., ANDRESEN, E. & ZÁRATE, D. A. 2010. Secondary seed dispersal by dung beetles in a Colombian rain forest: effects of dung type and defecation pattern on seed fate. Journal of Tropical Ecology 26:355–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SHEPHERD, V. E. & CHAPMAN, C. A. 1998. Dung beetles as secondary seed dispersers: impact on seed predation and germination. Journal of Tropical Ecology 14:199–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VANDER WALL, S. B. & LONGLAND, W. S. 2004. Diplochory: are two seed dispersers better than one? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:155–161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed