ABSTRACT

Ectophylla alba almost exclusively feeds on the fruits of Ficus colubrinae therefore significantly contributing to dispersal of its seeds. The objective of this research was to quantify the fruit removal of F. colubrinae by E. alba and compare it with that of birds in a F. colubrinae tree at the La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. We established seven quadrats randomly at different heights of the tree. We took photographs of each quadrat, quantified the fruits in each photograph, and compared the number of fruits removed during periods of high and low activity. The on-site persistence time of birds (9:05 min) was higher than that of E. alba (0.32 s). Birds removed more fruits (46) than E. alba (41). Birds defecated on site more times (13.08 feces per day) than E. alba (7.5 feces per day). Thus, E. alba is a more important seed disperser of F. colubrinae than are birds, because it persisted a short time at the feeding site, and consumed food beyond the individual trees’ canopies. Most importantly, by defecating during flight or away from the fruiting tree, E. alba disperse seeds some distance from the F. colubrinae tree, thereby contributes more effectively toward seed dispersal.

摘要

白叶桉几乎只以椰子榕的果实为食，因此极大地促进了其种子的散播。这项研究的目的是量化的水果去除F. colubrinae由E.阿尔巴并将其与鸟类在作比较F. colubrinae树在拉塞尔瓦生物站，哥斯达黎加。我们在树的不同高度随机建立了七个四边形。我们拍摄了每个四方方的照片，量化了每张照片中的水果，并比较了在活动高峰期和活动期低期间去除的水果数量。鸟类在现场的持续时间（9:05分钟）高于大肠杆菌（0.32 s）。鸟类去除的水果（46）比大肠杆菌（41）。鸟类在粪便中的排泄次数（每天13.88粪便）比大肠埃希菌（每天7.5粪便）更多。因此，E。alba是比鸟类更重要的F. colubrinae种子分散剂，因为它在觅食地点持续时间很短，并且消耗了单个树冠以外的食物。最重要的是，通过在飞行过程中排便或远离果树，白花大肠埃希氏菌会将种子分散到co。flubrinae树上一定距离，从而更有效地促进种子的散布。