Abstract: Wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca),a shrub-like small arbor,is distributed widely on sunny slopes of mountainous areas of Beijing,that survives well under dry conditions with poor soil or in deforested hills.Few studies had been done on the production and seed-rain,much less on the effect of consumption and removal by small rodents on dynamics of seed-bank.During July,2002 and July to September,2003,we estimated the production and seed-rain of wild apricot using collecting basket.The sample size was 16 and 20,in 2002 and 2003,respectively.The differences between consumed seeds and removed seeds within exclosure and ground quadrat,and the differences between exclosure and ground quadrat were compared.The results showed that the seed production of wild apricot varied significantly among years,and the peak of seeds falling occurred from late July to early August,among which the aborted seeds fell prior to the intact ones.There was significant difference between consumed and removed seeds both within exclosure and ground quadrat,which suggested that rodents tended to eat and transport seeds from the same sites.The difference of consumed seeds and removed seeds,respectively,between exclosure and ground qnadrat were not significant,which indicated that rodents were the main factor affecting the fate of seeds in seed-bank of wild apricot in the course of seed-rain,and the impact from birds was negligible.The percentage of seeds consumed and removed by rodents was low compared to the productivity.

Key words: Colloid minerals, Adsorption, Acetic acid, Acid phosphatase