Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T10:07:20.727Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Estimation of seed dispersal distance by the bonobo, Pan paniscus, in a tropical forest in Democratic Republic of Congo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2009

Yamato Tsuji*
Affiliation:
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan
Kumugo Yangozene
Affiliation:
Research Centre for Ecology and Forestry, Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology, Democratic Republic of Congo
Tetsuya Sakamaki
Affiliation:
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan
*
1Corresponding author. Email: ytsuji@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Extract

Great apes are considered to be important seed dispersers in palaeotropical habitats due to their large body size (this would be reflected in the amount of foods consumed) and large home ranges (Poulsen et al. 2001, Wrangham et al. 1994). Furthermore, the great apes might process seeds in a way that maintains their viability (Lambert 1999). Previous studies of seed dispersal by great apes have generally taken the form of lists of seeds found in their faeces (Voysey et al. 1999a, Wrangham et al. 1994), effects of passage through their guts on seed germination (Idani 1986, Wrangham et al. 1994), and effects of dispersal location on germination/seedling survival (Gross-Camp & Kaplin 2005, Rogers et al. 1998, Voysey et al. 1999b). In contrast with the richness of reports about aspects of seeds after their dispersal, few studies have investigated the dispersal pattern of seeds. In this study, we report on the estimated distances of seed dispersal by the wild bonobo (Pan paniscus Schwartz), a species of great ape.

Type
Short Communication
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

AUGSPURGER, C. K. 1984. Seedling survival of tropical tree species: interactions of dispersal distance, light-gaps, and pathogens. Ecology 65:17051712.Google Scholar
CHAPMAN, C. A. & CHAPMAN, L. J. 1996. Frugivory and the fate of dispersed and non-dispersed seeds of six African tree species. Journal of Tropical Ecology 12:491504.Google Scholar
FURUICHI, T., MULAVWA, M., YANGOZENE, K., YAMBA-YAMBA, M., MOTEMA-SALO, B., IDANI, G., IHOBE, H., HASHIMOTO, C., TASHIRO, Y. & MWANZA, N. 2008. Relationships among fruit abundance, ranging rate, and party size and composition of bonobos at Wamba. Pp. 135149 in Furuichi, T. & Thomson, J. (eds.). The Bonobos: behavior, ecology, and conservation. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
GROSS-CAMP, N. & KAPLIN, B. A. 2005. Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) seed dispersal in an afromontane forest: microhabitat influences on the post dispersal fate of large seeds. Biotropica 37:641649.Google Scholar
HASHIMOTO, C., TASHIRO, Y., KIMURA, D., ENOMOTO, T., INGMANSON, E. J., IDANI, G. & FURUICHI, T. 1998. Habitat use and ranging of wild bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Wamba. International Journal of Primatology 19:10451060.Google Scholar
HICKEY, J. R., FLYNN, R. W., BUSKIRK, S. W., GEROW, K. G. & WILLSON, M. F. 1999. An evaluation of a mammalian predator, Martes americana, as a disperser of seeds. Oikos 87:499508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IDANI, G. 1986. Seed dispersal by pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus) – a preliminary report. Primates 27:441447.Google Scholar
JULLIOT, C. 1996. Seed dispersal by red howling monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) in the tropical rain forest of French Guiana. International Journal of Primatology 17:239258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KANO, T. & MULAVWA, M. 1984. Feeding ecology of the pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus) of Wamba. Pp. 233274 in Sussman, R. L. (ed.). The pygmy chimpanzee: evolutionary biology and behaviour. Plenum Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LAMBERT, J. E. 1998. Primate digestion: interactions among anatomy, physiology, and feeding ecology. Evolutionary Anthropology 7:820.Google Scholar
LAMBERT, J. E. 1999. Seed handling in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius): implications for understanding hominoid and cercopithecine fruit-processing strategies and seed dispersal. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 109:365386.Google Scholar
LAMBERT, J. E. & GARBER, P. A. 1998. Evolutionary and ecological implications of primate seed dispersal. American Journal of Primatology 45:928.3.0.CO;2-#>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MCCONKEY, K. R. & CHIVERS, D. J. 2007. Influence of gibbon ranging patterns on seed dispersal distance and deposition site in a Bornean forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23:269275.Google Scholar
POULSEN, J. R., CLARK, C. J. & SMITH, T. B. 2001. Seed dispersal by a diurnal primate community in the Dja Reserve, Cameroon. Journal of Tropical Ecology 17:787808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ROGERS, M. E., VOYSEY, B. C., MCDONALD, K. E., PARNELL, R. J. & TUTIN, C. E. G. 1998. Lowland gorillas and seed dispersal: the importance of nest sites. American Journal of Primatology 45:4568.Google Scholar
SAKAMAKI, T., MULAVWA, M. & FURUICHI, T. 2009. Epidemics of a flu-like disease in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Wamba, the Luo Scientific Reserve, Democratic Republic of Congo. Pan Africa News 16:14.Google Scholar
STUMPF, R. 2007. Chimpanzees and bonobos: diversity within and between species. Pp. 321344 in Campbell, C. J., Fuentes, A., MacKinnon, K. C., Panger, M. & Bearder, S. K. (ed.). Primates in perspective. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
TERAKAWA, M., ISAGI, Y., MATSUI, K. & YUMOTO, T. 2009. Microsatellite analysis of the maternal origin of Myrica rubra seeds in the feces of Japanese macaques. Ecological Research 24:663670.Google Scholar
VOYSEY, B. C., MCDONALD, K. E., ROGERS, M. E., TUTIN, C. E. G. & PARNELL, R. J. 1999a. Gorillas and seed dispersal in the Lope Reserve, Gabon. I: gorilla acquisition by trees. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:2338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VOYSEY, B. C., MCDONALD, K. E., ROGERS, M. E., TUTIN, C. E. G. & PARNELL, R. J. 1999b. Gorillas and seed dispersal in the Lope Reserve, Gabon. II: survival and growth of seedlings. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:3960.Google Scholar
WRANGHAM, R. W., CHAPMAN, C. A. & CHAPMAN, L. J. 1994. Seed dispersal by forest chimpanzees in Uganda. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:355368.Google Scholar
YUMOTO, T., KIMURA, K. & NISHIMURA, A. 1999. Estimation of the retention times and distances of seed dispersed by two monkey species, Alouatta seniculus and Lagothrix lagotricha, in a Colombian forest. Ecological Research 14:179191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar