Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-17T10:07:53.292Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Protecting seeds from primates: examples from Diospyros spp. in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Caroline E. G. Tutin ,
Richard J. Parnell  and
Frank White
Caroline E. G. Tutin
Affiliation:
Centre International de Recherches Médicates de Franceville, Gabon, and Scottish Primate Research Group, Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK
Richard J. Parnell
Affiliation:
Centre International de Recherches Médicates de Franceville, Gabon, and Scottish Primate Research Group, Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK
Frank White
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The fruit of six species of Diospyros (Ebenaceae) provide food for eight species of diurnal primates in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Both succulent flesh and immature seeds are eaten but patterns of consumption vary among the primate species. Interactions between D. mannii, which has very large fruit (9 cm × 7 cm) and seeds (5 cm × 2 cm), and primates were observed in detail. D. mannii fruit are unusual, being covered by a dense mat of irritant hairs that are largely retained, but become looser on ripening, when fruit are abscissed. Primates do not eat immature seeds of this species but do predate on seeds of some other Diospyros species. Ripe flesh (and ripe seeds) of D. mannii are eaten by gorillas and chimpanzees but not by monkeys. Comparison of fruit characters and of feeding patterns of primates for the six Diospyros species suggests that large seeds are potentially vulnerable to high levels of predation but the presence of irritant hairs provides protection during fruit development. Abscission of ripe fruit (shown only by D. mannii) appears to afford additional protection from predation on ripe seeds by arboreal monkeys. These observations underline the complexity of plant-animal interactions in tropical forests and suggest that some fruit characters have evolved to reduce seed loss during maturation.

Keywords

DiospyrosGorilla g. gorillaPan t. troglodytesprimatesseed defenceseed predation
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 371 - 384
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

Boesch, C. 1978. Nouvelles observations sur les chimpenzés de la Forêt de Tai (Côte d'Ivoire). Terre et Vie 32:195–201.Google Scholar
Boesch, C. & Boesch, H. 1990. Tool use and tool making in wild chimpanzees. Folia Primatologia 54:86–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coates-Estrada, R., Estrada, A. & Meritt, D. 1993. Foraging by parrots (Amazona autumnalis) on fruits of Stemmadenia donnell-smithii (Apocynaceae) in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 9:121–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dasilva, G. 1992. The western black-and-white colobus as a low-energy strategist: activity budgets, energy expenditure and energy intake. Journal of Animal Ecology 61:79–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dasilva, G. 1994. Diet of Colobus polykomos on Twai Island: selection of food in relation to its seasonal abundance and nutritional quality. International Journal of Primatology 15:665–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmons, L. H., Gautier-Hion, A. & Dubost, G. 1983. Community structure of the frugivorousfolivorous forest mammals of Gabon. Journal of the Zoological Society of London 199:209–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estrada, A. & Fleming, T. H. 1986. Frugivores and seed dispersal. Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht. 392 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feer, F. 1989. Comparaison des régimes alimentaires de Cephalophus callipygus and C. dorsalis, Bovidés sympatriques de la forêt sempervirente africaine. Mammalia 53:563–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, R. B. 1982. The seasonal rhythm of fruit-fall on Barro Colorado Island. Pp. 151–172 in Leigh, E. G., Rand, A. S. & Windsor, D. M. (eds). The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long-term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.468 pp.Google Scholar
Frankie, G. W., Baker, H. G. & Opler, P. A. 1974. Comparative phenological studies of trees in tropical wet and dry forests in the lowlands of Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology 62:881–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galdikas, B. M. F. 1982. Orang-utan as seed dispersers at Tanjung Putting, central Kalimantan: implications for conservation. Pp. 285–298 in Boer, L. E. M. (ed.). The orang utan, its biology and conservation. Boston Hingham, The Hague. 353 pp.Google Scholar
Gautier-Hion, A., Duplantier, J.-M., Quiris, R., Feer, F., Sourd, C., Decoux, J.-P., Dubost, G., Emmons, L., Erard, C., Hecketsweiler, P., Moungazi, A., Roussilhon, C. & Thiollay, J. M. 1985. Fruit characters as a basis of fruit choice and seed dispersal in a tropical forest vertebrate community. Oecologia 65:324–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gautier-Hion, , Gautier, J. P. & Maisels, F. 1993. Seed dispersal versus seed predation: an inter-site comparison of two related African monkeys. Vegetatio 107/108:237–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ham, R. M. 1994. Behaviour and ecology of grey-cheeked mangabeys (Cercocebus albigena) in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. PhD Thesis, University of Stirling, Scotland. 275 pp.Google Scholar
Hall, J. B. & Swaine, M. D. 1981. Distribution and ecology of vascular plants in a tropical rain forest: forest vegetation in Ghana. Dr W. Junk, The Hague. 303 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, M. J. S. & Hladik, C. M. 1986. Un primate granivore: Le colobe noir dans la forêt du Gabon; potentialité d'évolution du comportement alimentaire. Revue d'Écologie (Terre et Vie) 41:281–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Idani, G. 1986. Seed dispersal by pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus): a preliminary report. Primates 27:411–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janson, C. H. 1983. Adaptation of fruit morphology to dispersal agents in a neotropical forest. Science 219:187–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, D. H. 1969. Seed eaters versus seed size, number, toxicity and dispersal. Evolution 23:201–228.Google ScholarPubMed
Janzen, D. H. 1978. The ecology and evolutionary biology of seed chemistry as it relates to seed predation. Pp. 163–206 in Harborne, J. B. (ed.). Biochemical aspects of plant and animal coevolution. Academic Press, London & New York.Google Scholar
Letouzey, R. & White, F. 1970. Ebenacees, vol. 18, Flore du Gabon. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.Google Scholar
McKey, D. B. 1978. Soils, vegetation, and seed-eating by black colobus monkeys. Pp. 423–437 in Montgomery, G. G. (ed.). The ecology of arboreal folivores. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 574 pp.Google Scholar
McKey, D. B., Gartlan, J. S., Waterman, P. G. & Choo, G. M. 1981: Food selection by black colobus monkeys (Colobus satanas) in relation to plant chemistry. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 16:115–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mittermeier, R. A., Van Roosmalen, M. G. M. & Fleagle, J. G. 1980. Seed predation in two Neotropical primate genera. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 52:259.Google Scholar
Rogers, M. E., Maisels, F., Williamson, E. A., Fernandez, M. & Tutin, C. E. G. 1990. Gorilla diet in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon: a nutritional analysis. Oecologia 84:326–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, C. H., 1988. Plant molecular biology, a practical approach. IRL Press, Oxford. 297 pp.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Y. & Koman, J. 1979. Tool-using and -making behavior in wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea. Primates 20:513–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suzuki, A. 1969. An ecological study of chimpanzees in a savanna woodland. Primates 10:103–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terborgh, J. 1983. Five New World primates: a study in comparative ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. 260 pp.Google Scholar
Terborgh, J. 1986. Keystone plant resources in the tropical forest. Pp. 330–344 in Soule, M. E. (ed.). Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts. 584 pp.Google Scholar
Tutin, C. E. G. & Fernandez, M. 1993a. Composition of the diet of chimpanzees and comparisons with that of sympatric lowland gorillas in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. American Journal of Primatology 30:195–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tutin, C. E. G. & Fernandez, M. 1993b. Relationship between minimum temperature and fruit production in some tropical forest trees in Gabon. Journal of Tropical Ecology 9:241–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tutin, C. E. G., Fernandez, M., Rogers, M. E., Williamson, E. A. & McGrew, W. C. 1991a. Foraging profiles of sympatric lowland gorillas and chimpanzees in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 334:179–186.Google ScholarPubMed
Tutin, C. E. G., White, L. J. T., Williamson, E. A., Fernandez, M. & McPherson, G. 1994. List of plant species identified in the northern part of the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Tropics 3:249–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tutin, C. E. G., Williamson, E. A., Rogers, M. E. & Fernandez, M. 1991b. A case study of a plant-animal relationship: Cola lizae and lowland gorillas in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7:181–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Roosmalen, M. G. M., Mittermeier, R. A. & Fleagle, J. G. 1988. Diet of the northern bearded saki (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes): a neotropical seed predator. American Journal of Primatology 14:11–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, L. J. T. 1992. Vegetation history and logging disturbance: effects on rain forest mammals in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. 250 pp.Google Scholar
White, L. J. T. 1994a. Patterns of fruit-fall phenology in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:289–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. J. T. 1994b. Biomass of rain forest mammals in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Journal of Animal Ecology 63:499–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. J. T., Tutin, C. E. G. & Fernandez, M. 1993. Group composition and diet of forest elephants, Loxodonta africana cyclotis, Matschie 1900, in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. African Journal of Ecology 31:181–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, E. A., Tutin, C. E. G., Rogers, M. E. & Fernandez, M. 1990. Composition of the diet of lowland gorillas at Lopé in Gabon. American Journal of Primatology 21:265–277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wrangham, R. W. & Waterman, P. G. 1983. Condensed tannins in fruits eaten by chimpanzees. Biotropica 15:217–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar