title: Long-term consistency in spatial patterns of primate seed dispersal.
abstract: Seed dispersal is a key ecological process in tropical forests, with effects on various levels ranging from plant reproductive success to the carbon storage potential of tropical rainforests. On a local and landscape scale, spatial patterns of seed dispersal create the template for the recruitment process and thus influence the population dynamics of plant species. The strength of this influence will depend on the long-term consistency of spatial patterns of seed dispersal. We examined the long-term consistency of spatial patterns of seed dispersal with spatially explicit data on seed dispersal by two neotropical primate species,Leontocebus nigrifronsandSaguinus mystax(Callitrichidae), collected during four independent studies between 1994 and 2013. Using distributions of dispersal probability over distances independent of plant species, cumulative dispersal distances, and kernel density estimates, we show that spatial patterns of seed dispersal are highly consistent over time. For a specific plant species, the legumeParkia panurensis, the convergence of cumulative distributions at a distance of 300 m, and the high probability of dispersal within 100 m from source trees coincide with the dimension of the spatial-genetic structure on the embryo/juvenile (300 m) and adult stage (100 m), respectively, of this plant species. Our results are the first demonstration of long-term consistency of spatial patterns of seed dispersal created by tropical frugivores. Such consistency may translate into idiosyncratic patterns of regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Verhaltensökologie & Soziobiologie Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung Göttingen Germany.
authors.forename: Eckhard W
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4259-8018
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Heymann
authors.affiliation: Verhaltensökologie & Soziobiologie Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung Göttingen Germany; Laboratório de Primatologia Departamento de Zoologia Universidade Estadual Paulista Rio Claro SP Brazil; Primatology Research Group Behavioral Biology UnitUniversity of Liège Liège Belgium.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Culot
authors.affiliation: Verhaltensökologie & Soziobiologie Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung Göttingen Germany; Present address: Caixa Postal 47 Nazaré Paulista São Paulo12960-000 Brazil.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knogge
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana Iquitos Peru.
authors.forename: Tony Enrique
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Noriega Piña
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana Iquitos Peru.
authors.forename: Emérita R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Tirado Herrera
authors.affiliation: Kognitive Ethologie Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung Göttingen Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klapproth
authors.affiliation: Kognitive Ethologie Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung Göttingen Germany.
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zinner
keywords: dispersal; dispersal distances; frugivores; kernel density estimates; plant–animal interactions; tropical forest