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Enterolobium Cyclocarpum Seed Passage Rate and Survival in Horses, Costa Rican Pleistocene Seed Dispersal Agents
Author(s) -
Janzen Daniel H.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1937726
Subject(s) - germination , biology , seed dispersal , seed predation , dormancy , population , ecology , biological dispersal , horticulture , demography , sociology
Costa Rican horses ranging free in deciduous forest—grassland habitats swallow about half of the seeds in the Enterolobium cyclocarpum fruits that they eat, and six such horses defecated at least 9—56% of the seeds alive. While about three—quarters of the surviving seeds appeared by the 14th d after ingestion, about a quarter of the surviving seeds emerged 15—60 d after ingestion. The horse kills Enterolobium seeds by digestive processes shortly after the seed germinates in response to the moisture of the intestinal tract. More than 90% of the seeds that survived the trip did so as hard dormant seeds. They showed no indication that they would germinate more rapidly (break dormancy more rapidly) that seeds planted directly from the fruits. The horse—seed interaction suggests that Pleistocene horses may have contributed to both local and long—distance population recruitment by Enterolobium cyclocarpum, and contemporary horses certainly have the potential to do so.