Abstract Frugivory in lizards is often assumed to be constrained by body size; only large individuals are considered capable of consuming fruits, with the potential of acting as seed dispersers. However, only one previous study has tested the correlation of frugivory with body and head size at an archipelago scale across closely related species. All nine lava lizards (Microlophus spp.) were studied on the eleven largest Galápagos islands from 2010 to 2016 to investigate whether frugivory is related to body and head size. We also tested whether fruit abundance influences fruit consumption and explored the effect of seed ingestion on seedling emergence time and percentage. Our results showed that across islands, lava lizards varied considerably in size (64–102 mm in mean snout–vent length) and level of frugivory (1–23%, i.e., percentage of droppings with seeds). However, level of frugivory was only weakly affected by size as fruit consumption was also common among small lizards. Lava lizards consumed fruits throughout the year and factors other than fruit abundance may be more important drivers of fruit selection (e.g., fruit size, energy content of pulp). From 2,530 droppings, 1,714 seeds of at least 61 plant species were identified, 76% of the species being native to the Galápagos. Most seeds (91%) showed no external structural damage. Seedling emergence time (44 versus 118 days) and percentage (20% versus 12%) were enhanced for lizard-ingested seeds compared to control (uningested) fruits. De-pulping by lizards (i.e., removal of pulp with potential germination inhibitors) might increase the chances that at least some seeds find suitable recruitment conditions. We concluded that lizards are important seed dispersers throughout the year and across the whole archipelago, regardless of body size.

中文翻译：

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小体型并不能抑制加拉帕戈斯熔岩蜥蜴的食果性和种子传播

摘要 蜥蜴的食果性通常被认为受到体型的限制。只有体型较大的个体才被认为能够食用水果，并具有充当种子传播者的潜力。然而，之前只有一项研究在群岛规模上测试了密切相关物种的食果性与身体和头部大小的相关性。2010 年至 2016 年，我们在加拉帕戈斯群岛的 11 个最大岛屿上对所有 9 种熔岩蜥蜴（Microlophus spp.）进行了研究，以调查食果性是否与身体和头部大小有关。我们还测试了果实丰度是否影响果实消耗，并探讨了种子摄入对出苗时间和百分比的影响。我们的结果表明，在各个岛屿上，熔岩蜥蜴的体型（口鼻口平均长度为 64-102 毫米）和食果水平（1-23%，即粪便中含有种子的百分比）差异很大。然而，食果水平仅受体型的微弱影响，因为小蜥蜴食用水果也很常见。熔岩蜥蜴全年都会消耗水果，除了水果丰富度之外的因素可能是水果选择的更重要的驱动因素（例如，水果大小、果肉的能量含量）。从 2,530 份粪便中，鉴定出至少 61 种植物的 1,714 颗种子，其中 76% 的物种原产于加拉帕戈斯群岛。大多数种子（91%）没有表现出外部结构损坏。与对照（未摄入）果实相比，蜥蜴摄入种子的出苗时间（44 天与 118 天）和百分比（20% 对 12%）均有所增加。蜥蜴去果肉（即用潜在的发芽抑制剂去除果肉）可能会增加至少一些种子找到合适的补充条件的机会。我们得出的结论是，无论体型大小，蜥蜴都是全年和整个群岛上重要的种子传播者。