Predation and dispersal of Lithocarpus glaber seeds by rodents in Tiantong National Forest Park, Zhejiang Province

This paper studied the predation and dispersal of Lithocarpus glaber seeds by rodents in the Tiantong National Forest Park (29°48′N, 121°47′E) of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Five seeds release transects (three in evergreen broad-leaved forest, one in Pinus messoniana forest, and one in shrub), and two seeds release states (covered/uncovered and tagged/untagged) were set up. Iron snare traps were baited to determine the effects of rodents on seeds disappearance. The results showed that two species of rodents, Niviventer confucianus and N. fulvescensi, were the potential predators and dispersers of the seeds. The lost seeds labeled with small piece of tin-tags could be classified into three categories, i. e., 1) seeds consumed by rodents, with tags stuck seed fragments; 2) seeds cut off from tags, with tags kept only; and 3) both seeds and tags disappeared. The loss rate of seeds was high at the beginning of the observation, and then decreased gradually. The daily seeds disappearance rate (DSDR) was variable in different habitats, with the highest (1.03%) in evergreen broad-leaved forest and the lowest (0.32%) in shrub. The proportion of these three categories was different, and related with habitat types. The difference of DSDR between covered and uncovered states was statistically significant (P<0.05), with a higher DSDR under uncovered state. No significant difference was observed between the DSDR of tagged and untagged. The distance of seeds dispersal by rodents was within 6.7 m.