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Seed dispersal by black snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti) at Mt. Lasha, Yunnan, China.

LI Ning1, GAO Shuai1, CHEN Si-yu1, REN Yuan-hao1, LI Yan-peng2, HUANG Zhi-pang2*, XIAO Wen2, CUI Liang-wei3   

  1. (1Institute of Applied Ecology, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China; 2Institute of EasternHimalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China; 3Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China).
  • Online:2019-08-10 Published:2019-08-10

Abstract: Primate is an important seed dispersal vector in forest, which plays an important role in forest regeneration. While many foreign scientists focused on the seed dispersal behaviors of primate, the studies on primate seed dispersal behaviors were still at the primary stage in China. In this study, we observed the fruit foraging behaviors of black andwhite snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) at Mt. Lasha and counted the intact seeds from the feces collected from the night-roosting sites and noon-sleeping sites. R. bieti consumed fruits from 14 plant species, belonging to nine families. Six out of the 14 species were from Rosaceae, with a percentage of 42.86%. Fruit traits influenced fruit choice of R. bieti, who preferred fleshy fruits (85.71%, n=12) and red fruits (57.14%, n=8). The distribution pattern of feces between night-roosting sites and noon-sleeping sites was different, with 75% of feces being found in the sleeping sites and 25% in noon-nap sites. Most of Rosaceae seeds were found under the nightroosting sites of R. bieti in conifer forest, indicating that R. bieti could affect the regeneration of broadleaved tree species in conifer forest. Our results highlight the important role of R. bieti in seed dispersal in forest ecosystem.

Key words: Probit regression model, land use change, driving force, Nanjing City.