Abstract
Mutualistic and antagonistic plant–animal interactions differentially contribute to the maintenance of species diversity in ecological communities. Although both seed dispersal and predation by fruit-eating animals are recognized as important drivers of plant population dynamics, the mechanisms underlying how seed dispersers and predators jointly affect plant diversity remain largely unexplored. Based on mediating roles of seed size and species abundance, we investigated the effects of seed dispersal and predation by two sympatric primates (Nomascus concolor and Trachypithecus crepusculus) on local plant recruitment in a subtropical forest of China. Over a 26 month period, we confirmed that these primates were functionally distinct: gibbons were legitimate seed dispersers who dispersed seeds of 44 plant species, while langurs were primarily seed predators who destroyed seeds of 48 plant species. Gibbons dispersed medium-seeded species more effectively than small- and large-seeded species, and dispersed more seeds of rare species than common and dominant species. Langurs showed a similar predation rate across different sizes of seeds, but destroyed a large number of seeds from common species. Due to gut passage effects, gibbons significantly shortened the duration of seed germination for 58% of the dispersed species; however, for 54% of species, seed germination rates were reduced significantly. Our study underlined the contrasting contributions of two primate species to local plant recruitment processes. By dispersing rare species and destroying the seeds of common species, both primates might jointly maintain plant species diversity. To maintain healthy ecosystems, the conservation of mammals that play critical functional roles needs to receive further attention.
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The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the six staffs, including Mr. Shiming Xiong, Mr. Youfu Xiong, Mr. Yehua Liu, Mr. Chengshun Qiu, Mr. Yuanshun Li, and Mr. Shuhua Yang, from Wuliangshan National Nature Reserve in Yunnan province for their help with sample collection in the field. We thank Mr. Changcheng Tian for his work on the plant survey, and Mr. Guoping Yang for his help with the identification of plant species. We also thank Dr. Tianmeng He, Dr. Chi Ma, and Ms. Liying Lan for their help provided to the seed germination experiment. Finally, we would like to thank Prof. Chengjin Chu, Mr. Benjamin Galea, Dr. Wenqi Luo, and Dr. Juanjuan Zhang for their edits and comments on the manuscript.
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This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171485).
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YC and PF conceived the ideas and designed methodology; YC and PF collected and analysed the data; YC, KRM and PF led the writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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Chen, Y., McConkey, K.R. & Fan, P. Sympatric primate seed dispersers and predators jointly contribute to plant diversity in a subtropical forest. Oecologia 202, 715–727 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05430-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05430-w