Large‐scale abortion of immature fruits is a pervasive phenomenon across seed plants due to maternal physiological decisions associated with matching resources with fruit crop size. Aborted fruits are usually disqualified from studies of both fruit production and seed dispersal. However, a considerable number of developing seeds occur within immature aborted fruits. We evaluated the untested hypotheses that seeds within aborted fruits are viable and that incomplete predation of seeds within aborted fruits by hoarding rodents provides, in addition to seed movement, increased germination and seedling emergence. To this end, we studied the system composed by the Iberian pear Pyrus bourgaeana and several rodent species in Mediterranean Spain. About a third of aborted fruits found beneath tree canopies (n = 2430) were partially eaten by rodents. Using a seed sowing experiment, we revealed that a considerable fraction of seeds from P. bourgaeana aborted fruits are viable, germinating, and emerging seedlings. Paradoxically, however, these seeds are de facto unviable since they are confined within the extremely hard pericarp of aborted fruits, which prevents any seedling emergence and thus any contribution to tree recruitment. We show that only when rodents partially gnaw the pericarp walls of aborted fruits, seeds that escaped from predation have the prospect of emerging and thus potentially contributing to tree regeneration. Thus, in this and probably in many other similar synzoochore systems, rodents act as rescuers of seeds confined within aborted fruits, conferring the plants a largely overlooked benefit that could shape the reproductive strategy of many plant species.

中文翻译：

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食堂动物被忽视的好处：啮齿动物从流产的果实中拯救种子

未成熟果实的大规模流产是种子植物中普遍存在的现象，这是由于母亲的生理决策与将资源与果实作物的大小相匹配有关。流产的水果通常不符合水果生产和种子传播的研究条件。但是，大量流产的种子出现在未成熟的流产果实中。我们评估了未经检验的假说，即流产果实中的种子是可行的，并且通过ho积啮齿动物而对流产果实中的种子的不完全捕食除了提供种子移动之外，还提供了更多的发芽和幼苗出苗。为此，我们研究了由伊比利亚梨Pyrus bourgaeana和西班牙地中海地区的几种啮齿动物组成的系统。在树冠下发现了约三分之一的流产水果（n  = 2430）被啮齿动物部分食用。使用种子播种实验，我们发现来自波旁假单胞菌的种子中有相当一部分流产的果实是可行的，发芽的和萌芽的幼苗。然而，自相矛盾的是，这些种子实际上是不可行的，因为它们被限制在流产果实的极其坚硬的果皮中，这阻止了任何幼苗的出苗并因此对树木募集没有任何贡献。我们表明，只有当啮齿动物部分地咬断流产果实的果皮壁时，从捕食中逃脱的种子才有可能出现，从而有可能促进树木再生。因此，在这种以及可能在许多其他类似的共生系统中，啮齿动物充当了被限制在流产果实中的种子的拯救者，赋予了植物极大的被忽视的好处，可以影响许多植物物种的繁殖策略。