Abstract

PIRES, Alexandra S  and  GALETTI, Mauro. The agouti Dasyprocta leporina (Rodentia: Dasyproctidae) as seed disperser of the palm Astrocaryum aculeatissimum. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2012, vol.19, n.1, pp.147-153. ISSN 0327-9383.

Some large-seeded plants depend heavily on agoutis for seedling recruitment. The importance of Dasyprocta leporina as seed disperser of the Atlantic Forest palm Astrocaryum aculeatissimum was evaluated using camera-traps and seed removal experiments. Agoutis were registered at 67% of the records obtained through the monitoring of mature fruits; palms were visited from 07:00 to 18:45 h. Dispersal distances ranged from 0.5 to 48.7 m (mean ± sd = 6.8 ± 9.1 m) and most of the removed seeds were buried (57.8%). These results corroborate the importance of agoutis for the seed dispersal of Astrocaryum palms.

Keywords : Activity patterns; Atlantic Forest; Rodents; Seed dispersal; Seed predation.