Table I . --Number of sound ponderosa pine and Douglas- fir seed dispersed and oonsimed 

 rev acre, by year^ Kootenai National Forest (number of seeds given in thousands) 







• Ponderosa pine seed 



Douglas- 



fir seed 



Seed 



• Number of 















year^ 



: plots^ 



: Dispersed ' Consumed^ : 



Dispersed 



Consumed 



1948 



1949 



1950 



1951 



1952*+ 



1953 



1954 



20 

 20 

 20 

 30 



39 

 10 



75,400 

 7,800 

 



4,200 



7,100 

 23,600 



69,600 (92) 



6,400 (82) 



-- 



3,000 (71) 



6,300 (89) 



18,800 (80) 



3,000 

 79,600 

 3,900 

 100 



10,400 

 187,200 



1,800 (60) 



78,600 (99) 



3,900 (100) 



100 (100) 



9,200 (88) 



170,400 (91) 



Total seed 118,100 104,100 (88)5 284,200 264,000 (93) ^ 



^1948-50 data were from Bluesky; 1951 and 1953 data from Bluesky, Butler, and Dunn; 

 and 1954 data from Dunn. 



^Quarter milacre in size. 



^Values in percent shown in parentheses. 



'^No data taken. 



^Average . 



Effects of Animals on Dispersed Seeds 



As soon as ponderosa pine and Douglas- fir seeds fell to the ground in early Sep- 

 tember, small animals began to eat or cache them. Regardless of the size of the seed 

 crop available, they consistently consumed the majority of the filled seed, never taking 

 less than 70 percent of the total number available. Over the 6-year study period, ani- 

 mals consumed about 90 percent of the pine and fir seeds before they could germinate in 

 May (table 1). For example, 75,400 sound pine seeds and 3,000 sound fir seeds were 

 dispersed per acre in 1948; this was a good seed crop year for pine but a poor one for 

 fir. About 69,600 pine (92 percent) and 1,800 fir (60 percent) were consumed before 

 May 1949 (Squillace and Adams 1950). The methods used did not separate bird and inverte- 

 brate feeding from that of the small mammals. 



Of the mammals, deer mice apparently consumed most of the seed. They were 3 to 4 

 times more abundant than the combined total of all the other five species of small 

 mammals found on the study area. In addition, stomach analyses of all small mammals on 

 this study area by Adams (1950) indicated that only deer mice and chipmunks ate many 

 seeds. Other small mammal species he found on the area included: 



Longtailed meadow mouse {Miorotus longiaaudus mordax (Merriam)) 

 Kootenai redbacked vole {Clethrionomys gapperi saturatus (Rhoads)) 

 Rocky Mountain vole {Phenaaomys intermedius intermedius (Merriam)) 

 Gray shrew {Sorex cinereus (Kerr)). 



9 



