Plant ecology meets animal cognition: impacts of animal memory on seed dispersal

We propose that an understanding of\udanimal learning and memory is critical to predicting\udthe impacts of animals on plant populations through\udprocesses such as seed dispersal, pollination and\udherbivory. Focussing on endozoochory, we review\udthe evidence that animal memory plays a role in seed\uddispersal, and present a model which allows us to\udexplore the fundamental consequences of memory for\udthis process. We demonstrate that decision-making by\udanimals based on their previous experiences has the\udpotential to determine which plants are visited, which\udfruits are selected to be eaten from the plant and where\udseeds are subsequently deposited, as well as being an\udimportant determinant of animal survival. Collectively,\udthese results suggest that the impact of animal\udlearning and memory on seed dispersal is likely to be\udextremely important, although to date our understanding\udof these processes suffers from a conspicuous lack\udof empirical support. This is partly because of the\uddifficulty of conducting appropriate experiments but is\udalso the result of limited interaction between plant\udecologists and those who work on animal cognition