Seed rain generated by bats under Cerrado’s pasture remnant trees in a Neotropical savanna

Abstract

In this study we described the seed rain generated by bats under four Cerrado's tree species common within pastures, Buchenavia tomentosa, Couepia grandiflora, Licania humilis and Qualea grandiflora. We analyzed the similarity among the four tree species in terms of seed rain composition, and compared the number of seeds and seed species deposited under them. Besides that, we assessed the relationship between seed rain intensity and the density of each tree species. Then, we randomly selected 10 mature trees of each species to sample seed rain. We recorded a total of 4892 bat dispersed seeds from 11 species. Also, we observed that along the year seed deposition varied substantially under all trees. At least two seed sub-communities could be distinguished according to tree species used by bats as feeding roost. One related to Couepia grandiflora and Licania humilis, and the other to Buchenavia tomentosa and Qualea grandiflora trees. The variability of seed rain composition in any particular tree and the range of actual seed fall into a particular species indicate patchiness in seed rain, and the overall results appear to be consistent in terms of a substantial and diverse seed rain generated by bats in a highly anthropized landscape. This is the first study concerning seed dispersal by bats in modified Brazilian Cerrado, one of the most endangered biomes in the world. In this respect, by preserving a dense and diverse collection of remnant trees within today's pastures may, potentially, contribute to a faster Cerrado recovery in extensive areas that can be reclaimed for restoration in the future.Keywords: seed dispersal, seed diversity, frugivory, bat feeding roost, recruitment foci. Chuva de sementes gerada por morcegos sob árvores remanescentes do Cerrado no Brasil Central ResumoNeste estudo descrevemos a chuva de sementes gerada por morcegos sob quatro espécies arbóreas comuns em pastagens no Cerrado (Bouchenavia tomentosa, Couepia grandiflora, Licania humilis e Qualea grandiflora). Também, analisamos a similaridade quanto à composição da chuva de sementes depositada sob as quatro espécies arbóreas, além da relação entre a intensidade da chuva de sementes e densidade de cada espécies arbóreas. Para tanto, selecionamos aleatoriamente 10 árvores por espécie que fossem reprodutivamente maduras, para amostrar a chuva de sementes. Registramos um total de 4892 sementes, pertencentes a 11 espécies de plantas, dispersadas por morcegos. Durante o ano a deposição de sementes variou substancialmente sob todas as árvores amostradas. Duas sub-comunidades de sementes emergiram associadas às espécies arbóreas usadas por morcegos como abrigo de alimentação. Uma relacionada à Couepia grandiflora e Licania humilis, e outra relacionada à Buchenavia tomentosa e Qualea grandiflora. A variabilidade da composição da chuva de sementes sob qualquer uma das árvores, bem como a amplitude dessa chuva sob cada espécie de árvore indicou um padrão heterogêneo e intenso de deposição de uma coleção diversa de sementes em uma área alta...

Seed removal of Dipteryx alata Vog. (Leguminosae: Faboidae) in the edge and interior of Cerrado

“…This may be of concern as the complex interactions involving primary dispersion of large-seeded trees, their secondary dispersers and seed predators is a key step for devising strategies to conserve ecological processes, which are essential for maintaining biodiversity in fragmented landscapes (Silva and Tabarelli, 2000;Cramer et al, 2007;Costa et al, 2012). This is one few studies comparing the secondary removal of bat dispersed seeds in anthropized habitats of Cerrado (see: Ragusa-Netto and Santos, 2015;Wolf, 2015), one of the most endangered biomes in the world. Due to the accelerated Cerrado loss, knowledge concerning regeneration sources in disturbed Cerrado areas may provide useful information to improve strategies for Cerrado management and conservation in view of the increasing over representation of Cerrado edge habitats (Carvalho et al, 2009).…”

“…In these periods those endocarps were often deposited by bats under feeding roosts (Ragusa-Netto and Santos, 2015), while general fruiting pattern highly vary in the dense Cerrado (Ragusa-Netto, 2006). In each habitat type one 1500-m transect was delimited: the edge transect, at 5-10 m from the Cerrado boundary, and the interior transect, 400 m away from the edge.…”

“…In the tropical vegetation frugivorous bats often use feeding roost either in the interior or edge of Neotropical forest remnants (Arteaga et al, 2006). This also occurs in the fragmented Cerrado (Neotropical savanna; Ribeiro and Walter, 1998), so that under feeding roosts a gradient of seed densities may be generated (Ragusa-Netto and Santos, 2015). Therefore, one may expect differences in the chances of seed survival according to seed densities (Harms et al, 2000;Terborgh, 2012).…”

Improving Water Sustainability through Modeling Optimum Sites for Riparian Forest Reforestation

“…In fragmented landscapes, forest fragments provide havens for many forest species and potential seeds for reforestation [101][102][103]. The proximity of forest fragments close to the reforestation sites facilitates the colonization process of these areas by local species since the majority of non-implanted species will depend on neighboring sources through the dissemination of seeds [104][105][106]. Factors linked to biological flows, such as seed dispersal, interfere with the dynamics of the reforestation process to contribute to the forest system sustainability to be installed [104,105,[107][108][109][110].…”

“…Factors linked to biological flows, such as seed dispersal, interfere with the dynamics of the reforestation process to contribute to the forest system sustainability to be installed [104,105,[107][108][109][110]. Besides, the distance of seed dispersal has a significant influence on the persistence of species in forest fragments [111], on the vegetation recovery in altered areas [112] and on the migration of vegetation through landscapes fragmented in response to climate change [105,106,113,114]. Thus, the less vulnerable a forest fragment is, the more significant its contribution to reforestation success.…”