Dispersión de semillas por murciélagos en un borde de bosque montano

Abstract

Seed dispersal by bats has been overlooked and the effects of different vegetation types in this process are still unknown. We measured abundance and diversity of seeds dispersed by bats and other dispersal agents in a forest edge next to a young eucalyptus plantation in the Santuario de Fauna y Flora Otun-Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia. We compared seed shadows generated by bats and birds. We found that the habitats in the edge have significant effects on seed dispersal. Dispersal was more abundant and diverse in the mature forest compared to the first meters of the plantation and inside the plantation. Even though few seeds where dispersed by bats outside the forest, these are pioneer species with a higher probability of establishment. Ornithochory outside the forest was almost absent. We believe that bats face a cost-benefit choice: to fly over areas without plant cover and increase their risk of predation, or to fly through dense plant cover and reduce their predation risk. Any choice ultimately has an influence in the seed dispersal processes in these habitats.