Inducing seed dispersal by generalist frugivores: A new technique to overcome dispersal limitation in restoration

Abstract

1. Dispersal limitation severely impairs the trajectory of restoration, mainly due to the lack of seed vectors bringing seeds from nearby habitats; a role played by many frugivorous vertebrates that can be absent or reduced in restored or degraded sites. 2. Here we propose a new technique named Induced Seed Dispersal, that amplifies the role that many generalist frugivores have in seed dispersal. It consists in the offering of seeds embedded in the pulp of commercial fruits or whole native fleshy fruits in feeders to generalist frugivores, which ingest the seeds and defecate them elsewhere. We set feeders in a restored site and monitored the visiting pattern of these frugivores with cameras-traps. We also set seed traps to retrieve seeds dispersed by frugivores and offered around 1,500 seeds of Cecropia hololeuca (Urticaceae) per week for 1 year. 3. We recorded at least 24 generalist frugivore species of terrestrial mammals, bats and birds, which ingested/removed the seeds/fruits from the feeders. Seeds of C. hololeuca dispersed by marmosets were retrieved in the seed traps and germinated. We estimated a potential seed rain of more than 600 C. hololeuca seeds ha −1 mo −1. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates that this new technique can make use of generalist frugivores to assist restoration or regeneration into sites where seed dispersal is compromised by the lack of dispersers or limited seed arrival. Inducing seed dispersal by generalist frugivores is a low-cost and easymanaged technique that can be applied year-round in restoration and forest enrichments at all scales.

The resilient frugivorous fauna of an urban forest fragment and its potential role in vegetation enrichment

“…Over-abundant generalist animals (e.g., opossum) can be employed in habitat enrichment by pulp-cleaning large fruits, preventing microbial damage to seeds (Traveset et al 2007, Cantor et al 2013. Or by adequate enrichment approaches (Hale and Swearer 2017), such as the Induced Seed Dispersion technique (ISD) (Silva et al 2020). ISD consists of inserting small seeds of selected species in attractive fruits, such as banana (Musa sp.…”

“…ISD consists of inserting small seeds of selected species in attractive fruits, such as banana (Musa sp. ), which are offered to local residual frugivores that can ingest and disperse hundreds of seeds in the habitat, promoting flora enrichment (see Silva et al 2020).…”

Precision restoration: a necessary approach to foster forest recovery in the 21st century

“…3B). Other approaches to foster seed dispersal could be the distribution of artificial perches or piles of branches to attract dispersers (Vogel et al 2018; Castillo‐Escrivà et al 2019; La Mantia et al 2019), the maximization of the presence of species that produce attractive fruits for seed dispersers early after planting and/or continuously throughout the year (De Almeida & Viani 2021), to increase the connectivity between nuclei (Lindell et al 2013; Peña‐Domene et al 2016), offering seeds of interest to the dispersers in feeders (Silva et al 2020), or even the reintroduction of the disperser (Genes et al 2018; Mittelman et al 2020). In summary, accounting for the role of seed dispersers and precise mapping of biological legacies (see Step 1) may be key for the success of forest restoration, so we need to know with precision the functioning of the system in order to plan proper measures.…”

Managing forest regeneration and expansion at a time of unprecedented global change

“…Still focusing on animal-mediated seed dispersal, the third paper of this Special Issue (Silva et al, 2020)…”