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Fruit and seed ecology of wild robusta coffee ( Coffea canephora Froehner) in Kibale National Park, Uganda
Author(s) -
OryemOriga H.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2028.1999.00200.x
Subject(s) - coffea canephora , biology , frugivore , horticulture , coffea , coffea arabica , national park , forest floor , botany , ecology , habitat , ecosystem
Coffee fruit production, frugivorous activities and seed longevity were investigated during two seasons. The average densities of fruiting coffee trees during the first sampling period ranged from four to seven per 25 m 2 and during the second sampling period, four fruiting trees per 25 m 2 were estimated. Fruiting coffee trees were significantly less than the non‐fruiting trees ( P < 0.05, t ‐test). Periods of maximum coffee fruit fall coincided with those of lowest rainfall. Coffee fruit yield per tree from ground collections was 7–40 m −2 in 1992 and 16–38 m −2 in 1993/1994. Split coffee berries ranged between 71.7% and 83.6% of all fruits collected from the forest floor in the 1993/94 sampling period. Coffee seeds collected from the forest floor were mostly undamaged. Black and white colobus and redtail monkeys were observed to feed on ripe coffee fruits but did not crush the seeds. Coffee seed viability declined rapidly during storage. Seeds left on the forest floor survived longest, those stored under laboratory conditions lost viability fastest, and those in cold storage showed intermediate longevity.