Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:54:49.245Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fruit removal by hornbills in a semi-evergreen forest of the Indian Eastern Himalaya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2012

Pia Sethi  and
Henry F. Howe
Pia Sethi*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor St. (M/C 066), Chicago, IL 60706, USA Forestry and Biodiversity Group, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi-11003, India
Henry F. Howe
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor St. (M/C 066), Chicago, IL 60706, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

We tested the hypothesis that seed size influences which frugivores eat fruits, and the size and nature of disperser assemblages in Pakke Tiger Reserve, India. Four tree species had large seeds (> 18 mm width) that could be handled by birds with large gape widths, while two tree species had smaller seeds (< 7 mm width) falling within the gape size range of many frugivores. We tested whether (1) disperser assemblage and activity reflected seed size, and (2) large-gaped hornbills were more effective at fruit removal of tree species with large seeds, than of those with smaller seeds and many dispersers. Day-long watches were conducted in 2005 at trees of Dysoxylum binectariferum (three in 2005 and nine in 2006), Chisocheton cumingianus (nine), Aglaia spectabilis (seven), Polyalthia simiarum (nine), Litsea monopetala (four) and Cinnamomum bejolghota (two in 2005 and six in 2006) to determine which frugivores visited trees and ate fruit. Disperser visitation and species diversity per tree to species with medium-sized seeds averaged 85 visits and 10 species d−1, contrasted with five visits by one frugivore species to large-seeded tree species. Seed removal rates per tree averaged 486 seeds d−1 from medium-seeded tree species, but 10 seeds d−1 from large-seeded species. Hornbills (Bucerotidae) and Ducula badia (Columbidae) removed large seeds from capsules of Aglaia spectabilis, Chisocheton cumingianus and Dysoxylum binectariferum (Meliaceae). Primates, civets and bats also consumed drupes of large-seeded Polyalthia simiarum (Annonaceae). Anthracoceros albirostris hornbills were important dispersers of Litsea monopetala (Lauraceae), a medium-seeded tree with a large disperser assemblage. Conversely, hornbills were quantitatively inconsequential for Cinnamomum bejolghota (Lauraceae), another medium-seeded tree species with several dispersers. Results suggest that the size and activity of disperser assemblages accurately reflects seed size. While hornbills were quantitatively important dispersers of large-seeded tree species, their effectiveness for trees with small- to medium-sized seeds depended on the tree species.

Keywords

Aglaia spectabilisChisocheton cumingianusCinnamomum bejolghotaDysoxylum binectariferumgeneralisthuntingLitsea monopetalaLauraceaeMeliaceaePolyalthia simiarumseed-dispersal mutualismseed sizespecialisttropical rain forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 28 , Issue 6 , November 2012 , pp. 531 - 541
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

ARA, H., MIA, M. M. & KHAN, B. 2007. An annotated checklist of Lauraceae in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 14:147–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BECKER, P. & WONG, M. 1985. Seed dispersal, seed predation and juvenile mortality of Aglaia sp. (Meliaceae) in lowland dipterocarp rainforest. Biotropica 17:230–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CARLO, T. A., COLLAZO, J. A. & GROOM, M. J. 2003. Avian fruit preferences across a Puerto Rican forested landscape: pattern consistency and implications for seed removal. Oecologia 134:119–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHAMPION, H. G. & SETH, S. K. 1968. A revised survey of the forest types of India. Government of India Press, New Delhi. 404 pp.Google Scholar
CONNOLLY, J. D., LABBE, C., RYCROFT, D. S. & TAYLOR, D. A. H. 1979. Tetranortriterpenoids and related compounds. Part 22. New apo-tirucallol derivatives and tetranortriterpenoids from the wood and seed of Chisocheton paniculatus (Meliaceae). Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 1:2959–2964.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CORLETT, R. T. 2007. The impact of hunting on the mammalian fauna of tropical Asian forests. Biotropica 39:292–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CRAMER, J., MESQUITA, R. & WILLIAMSON, G. B. 2007. Forest fragmentation differentially affects seed dispersal of large and small-seeded tropical trees. Biological Conservation 137:415–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DATTA, A. 2001. An ecological study of sympatric hornbills and fruiting patterns in a tropical forest in Arunachal Pradesh. PhD Dissertation, Saurashtra University, Rajkot. 245 pp.Google Scholar
DATTA, A. & RAWAT, G. S. 2003. Foraging patterns of sympatric hornbills during the nonbreeding season in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. Biotropica 35:208–218.Google Scholar
ELANGOVAN, V., MARIMUTHU, G. & KUNZ, T. H. 1999. Temporal patterns of individual and group foraging behaviour in the short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx, in South India. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:681–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FA, J. E., RYAN, S. F. & BELL, D. J. 2005. Hunting vulnerability, ecological characteristics and harvest rates of bushmeat species in Afrotropical forests. Biological Conservation 121:167–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEMING, T. H. 2005. The relationship between species richness of vertebrate mutualists and their food plants in tropical and subtropical communities differs among hemispheres. Oikos 11:556–562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GAUTIER-HION, A., DUPLANTIER, J. M., QURIS, R., FEER, F., SOURD, C., DECOUX, J. P., DUBOST, G., EMMONS, L., ERARD, C., HECKETSWEILER, P., MOUNGAZI, A., ROUSSILHON, C. & THIOLLAY, J. M. 1985. Fruit characteristics as basis of fruit choice and seed dispersal in a tropical forest vertebrate community. Oecologia 65:324–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GRIMMETT, R., INSKIPP, C. & INSKIPP, T. 2000. Pocket guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. 384 pp.Google Scholar
HAMANN, A. & CURIO, E. 1999. Interactions among frugivores and fleshy fruit trees in a Philippine submontane rainforest. Conservation Biology 13:766–773.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HODGKISON, R., BALDING, S. T., ZUBAID, A. & KUNZ, T. H. 2003. Fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) as seed dispersers and pollinators in a lowland Malaysian rain forest. Biotropica 35:491–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOLBROOK, K. M. & LOISELLE, B. A. 2009. Dispersal in a Neotropical tree, Virola flexuosa (Myristicaceae): does hunting of large vertebrates limit seed removal? Ecology 90:1449–1455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOWE, H. F. 1993. Specialized and generalized dispersal systems: where does the paradigm stand? Vegetatio 107/108:149–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOWE, H. F. & VANDE KERCKHOVE, G. A. 1980. Nutmeg dispersal by tropical birds. Science 210:925–927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
JORDANO, P. 1994. Spatial and temporal variation in the avian-frugivore assemblage of Prunus mahaleb: patterns and consequences. Oikos 71:479–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JORDANO, P. 1995a. Angiosperm fleshy fruits and seed dispersers: a comparative analysis of adaptation and constraints on plant–animal interactions. American Naturalist 145:163–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JORDANO, P. 1995b. Frugivore-mediated selection on fruit and seed size: birds and St. Lucie's cherry, Prunus mahaleb. Ecology 76:2627–2639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JORDANO, P., GARCIA, C., GODOY, J. A. & GARCIA-CASTAN, J. L. 2007. Differential contribution of frugivores to complex seed dispersal patterns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104:3278–3282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
KITAMURA, S., YUMOTO, T., POONSWAD, P., CHUAILUA, P., PLONGMAI, K., MARUHASHI, T. & NOMA, N. 2002. Interactions between fleshy fruits and frugivores in a tropical seasonal forest in Thailand. Oecologia 134:559–572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KITAMURA, S., SUZUKI, S., YUMOTO, T., POONSWAD, P., CHUAILUA, P., PLONGMAI, K., NOMA, N., MARUHASHI, T. & SUCKASAM, C. 2004. Dispersal of Aglaia spectabilis, a large-seeded tree species in a moist evergreen forest in Thailand. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20:421–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LEIGHTON, M. & LEIGHTON, D. R. 1983. Vertebrate responses to fruiting seasonality within a Bornean rain forest. Pp. 191–196 in Sutton, S. L., Whitmore, T. C. & Chadwick, A. C. (eds.). Tropical rain forest: ecology and management. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
MANI, M. S. 1974. Ecology and biogeography in India. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague. 775 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCKEY, D. 1975. The ecology of coevolved seed dispersal systems. Pp. 159–191 in Gilbert, L. E. & Raven, P. (eds.). Coevolution of animals and plants. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MENON, V. 2003. A field guide to Indian mammals. Penguin India, New Delhi. 200 pp.Google Scholar
MYERS, N., MITTERMEIER, R. A., MITTERMEIER, C. G., DA FONSECA, G. A. B. & KENT, J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NUNEZ-ITURRI, G., OLSSON, O. & HOWE, H. F. 2008. Hunting reduces recruitment of primate-dispersed trees in Amazonian Peru. Biological Conservation 141:1536–1546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PANNELL, C. M. & KOZIOL, M. J. 1987. Ecological and phytochemical diversity of arillate seeds in Aglaia (Meliaceae): a study of vertebrate dispersal in tropical trees. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 316:303–333.Google Scholar
PRATT, T. K. & STILES, E. W. 1985. The influence of fruit size and structure on composition of frugivores assemblages in New Guinea. Biotropica 17:314–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAIKIA, B., KATAKY, J. C. S., MATHUR, R. K. & BARUAH, J. N. 1978. New meliacins from the fruits of Chisocheton paniculatus Hiern. Indian Journal of Chemistry B16:1042–1044.Google Scholar
SCHUPP, E. W. 1993. Quantity, quality and the effectiveness of seed dispersal by animals. Vegetatio 107/108:15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHUPP, E. W., JORDANO, P. & GOMEZ, J. M. 2010. Seed dispersal effectiveness revisited: a conceptual review. New Phytologist 188:333–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SETHI, P. 2010. Seed dispersal and regeneration of hornbill-dispersed tree species in forests of the Indian Eastern Himalaya. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago.Google Scholar
SETHI, P. & HOWE, H. F. 2009. Recruitment of hornbill-dispersed trees in hunted and logged forests of the Indian Eastern Himalaya. Conservation Biology 23:710–718.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SOLANKI, G. S., KUMAR, A. & SHARMA, B. K. 2008. Winter food selection and diet composition of capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus) in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Tropical Ecology 49:157–166.Google Scholar
VAN DER PIJL, L. 1982. Principles of dispersal in higher plants. (Second edition). Springer, Berlin. 215 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAZQUEZ, D. P., MORRIS, W. F. & JORDANO, P. 2005. Interaction frequency as a surrogate for the total effect of animal mutualists on plants. Ecology Letters 8:1088–1094.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VELHO, N., DATTA, A. & ISVARAN, K. 2009. Effect of rodents on seed fate of five hornbill-dispersed tree species in a tropical forest in north-east India. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25:507–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WENNY, D. G. & LEVEY, D. J. 1998. Directed seed dispersal by bellbirds in a tropical cloud forest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 95:6204–6207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WESTCOTT, D. A., BENTRUPPERBAUMER, J., BRADFORD, M. G. & MCKEOWN, A. 2005. Incorporating patterns of disperser behaviour into models of seed dispersal and its effects on estimated dispersal curves. Oecologia 146:57–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHEELWRIGHT, N. T. 1985. Fruit size, gape width, and the diets of fruit-eating birds. Ecology 66:808–818.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WHITMORE, T. C. 1998. An introduction to tropical rain forests. (Second edition). Oxford University Press, Oxford. 296 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar