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Frugivory and Seed Dispersal by Large Herbivores of Asia

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The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 225))

Abstract

Seed dispersal is a key ecological process with ~50–80 % of all tropical plants depending on animals to provide this service. Wide-ranging and large-bodied species are believed to play a disproportionately important role in the seed dispersal process. Although mounting evidence demonstrates a strong role for large herbivores in seed dispersal, our broad knowledge of this interaction remains surprisingly rudimentary. In this chapter, we partially bridge this knowledge gap for South and Southeast Asia (SSEA). We start by synthesizing known information on how the sensory ecology of these animals aid in locating fruit. Next, we review the fruits consumed and dispersed by distinct large herbivore groups, and the influence of their digestive physiology on seed dispersal patterns. We collated more than 300 records of frugivory and/or seed dispersal for 27 species of large herbivores. The data suggests that smaller species of large herbivores may be constrained in the size of fruits they can consume while larger species are not. An assessment of overlap in the traits of fruits consumed indicates much more dissimilarity between groups of large herbivores than previously thought. Finally, we examine the implications of this interaction both from a historical perspective and for the future. Despite the broad-scale synthesis achieved, we conclude that information on seed dispersal services provided by large herbivores in SSEA remains largely incomplete.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the following people for providing data on fruits consumed by herbivores and other information: Asmita Sengupta, Chanpen Saralamba, Freddy Pattiselanno, Firmann Aldy, Matt Heydon, Meghna Krishnadas, Robert Steinmetz, Stephan Wulffraat, Naveed Khan. Farshid Ahrestani, Mahesh Sankaran, David J. Chivers, and David A. Westcott made useful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. James Cook University, 14-88, McGregor Road, Smithfield 4878, Cairns, QLD, Australia

    Sachin Sridhara

  2. School of Natural Sciences and Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore, 560012, India

    Kim McConkey

  3. School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, JNU New Campus, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Soumya Prasad

  4. Nature Science Initiative, 36, Curzon Road, Dehradun, 248001, India

    Soumya Prasad

  5. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China

    Richard T. Corlett

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  1. Sachin Sridhara
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  2. Kim McConkey
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  3. Soumya Prasad
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  4. Richard T. Corlett
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Correspondence to Sachin Sridhara .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology, Evolution & env. Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Farshid S. Ahrestani

  2. Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Mahesh Sankaran

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Sridhara, S., McConkey, K., Prasad, S., Corlett, R.T. (2016). Frugivory and Seed Dispersal by Large Herbivores of Asia. In: Ahrestani, F., Sankaran, M. (eds) The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia. Ecological Studies, vol 225. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7570-0_5

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