Seed dispersal of three sympatric oak species by forest rodents in the Qinling Mountains, Central China

Seed predation patterns favor the regeneration of dominant species in forest gaps compared with the understory in an oak-pine mixed forest

“…Our observations agree with previous studies where fallen seeds were removed rapidly by rodents (Vander Wall 1990;Jansen and Forget 2001;Xiao et al 2005b;Caccia et al 2006;Chang et al 2012a). Although we cannot fully exclude the possibility that other animals (e.g., wild pigs, cattle, Eurasian jays, and pheasants) than small rodents were responsible for the seeds removal of both tree species, we find this unlikely because their roles are probably negligible compared with small rodents in terms of their very few numbers in the study area (Chang et al 2012a;Yu et al 2013a). It is noticeable that the rodent density may have been overestimated because some animals might be recaptured.…”

“…Some seeds may also have been cached at other locations outside the study area and emerged as seedlings there. Although these seedling proportions were not high, given the tens of thousands of seeds produced by each tree every year, the caching behaviors of rodents are likely to contribute significantly to seed survival and seedling establishment in natural conditions (Chang et al 2012a, b). If the lower cache dynamics in forest gaps by small rodents is a general phenomenon, this dispersal pattern may compensate for the high mortality of seeds predated by small rodents.…”

“…Several rodent species coexisted in the study site; the dominant species are Apodemus draco Barrett-Hamilton., Apodemus peninsulae Thomas., Sciurotamias davidianus Milne-Edwards., and Niviventer confucianus Milne-Edwards. Previous study suggested that these rodents were likely to affect natural regeneration of the main tree species (Chang et al 2012a, b;Yu et al 2013a). …”

“…are dominant species, and they contribute substantially to the stability and biodiversity of the forest ecosystem in the Qinling Mountains. These two species depend mainly on animals for the dispersal of their seeds (Chang et al 2012a, b). Evidence suggests that the numbers of Q. aliena var.…”

Poor seed dispersal, seed germination and seedling survival explain why rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) do not expand into natural forests in Xishuangbanna, southwest China

“…Rodents are a prevalent group in many disturbed habitats (van den Bergh and Kappelle, 2006;Barragán et al, 2010;García et al, 2013). Previous studies have demonstrated that rodents, especially those having hoarding behavior, not only eat seeds but also disperse them and thus facilitate tree regeneration from seeds (Price and Jenkins, 1986;Li and Zhang, 2003;Chen et al, 2005;Chang et al, 2012). In this study, we found that Rattus spp.…”