Food habits and endozoochorous seed dispersal by small rodents (Cricetidae and Echimyidae) in a riparian forest in southeastern Brazil

By

Lessa, Leonardo Guimarães
Paula, Camilla S.
Pessoa, Rafael S.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-11-5

Original Publication

Neotropical Biology and Conservation

Volume

14

Series / Issue

Issue: 3

Pages

349--359

Subjects

Cadeia do Espinhaço , Cerrado , Diet , dieta , escarificação , Espinhaço Range , scarification

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Brazil Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.14.e47403

 

Abstract

We analyzed the feeding habits and the endozoochoric seed dispersal of six species of Neotropical small rodents in a riparian forest in the Cerrado biome at the central portion of Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil. The species presented a miscellaneous diet consuming arthropod, especially Hymenoptera (ants) and Isoptera (termites), fruits of pioneer species and vegetative parts of plants (stems and leaves). The high frequency of arthropods in the diet of all species studied reinforces its importance as a food resource for small Neotropical rodents, especially in environments with a marked seasonality, such as in the Cerrado. The number of intact seeds after gut passage and the higher germinability of the ingested seeds, compared to the control group, indicates that the studied rodents acted mainly as dispersers and not as predators of small seeds (≤ 1 mm) of pioneer species (Melastomataceae and Rubiaceae).