Abstract:
In Santa Rosa National Park in the deciduous forests of northwestern
Costa Rica, tapir (Tapirus bairdjj) dung contains seeds and seed fragments.
Large seeds such as those of Mastichodendron capriri, Mani/kara
zapota and Quercus o/eoides are invariably crushed by the molar mill.
Large hard seeds such as those of Enter%bium cyc/ocarpum and
Pithecellobium saman are not crushed by the mollar mill but may scarified
sufficiently that they begin to germinate in the tapir gut and are
therefore killed; however, some survive the trip as well. At least some
of the small seeds that are normally dispersed via vertebrate guts survive
the trip through the tapir, but the wind-dispersed seeds of Goch/ospermum
vitifo/ium are killed by the digestive process. Whether the tapir
should be viewed as a seed predator or dispersal agent, or some combination
of the two, depends on the species of plant.
