Does spatial and seasonal variability in fleshy-fruited trees affect fruit availability? A case study in gallery forests of Central Brazil

ABSTRACT

Forest stands in seasonal environments can differ spatially and seasonally in the diversity of fleshy fruits available as resources for fauna. The aim of this study was to quantify spatial and seasonal variation in the richness and abundance of the dominant fleshy-fruited tree species in gallery forests of the Cerrado domain. Tree species composition and abundance were compiled from the literature for 10 gallery forest stands. Data were interpolated and extrapolated by the sample coverage method, using Hill numbers to determine the typical species as well as the most abundant species in each fruiting season. Stands differed in the occurrence of fleshy-fruited tree species and in the number of fleshy-fruited tree individuals. Probabilities for the occurrence of fleshy fruit were similar between in the wet and dry. However, across all stands, species that fruit primarily in the dry season were less common than those that fruit in the wet season. The sharing of fleshy-fruited tree species was low and the most abundant species differed among the studied stands. Fleshy fruits were available all year round and periods of high fruit availability are highly synchronized while periods of low fruit availability were much less so.

Keywords:
abundance; Cerrado; food phenology; frugivory; fruiting; plant-animal interactions; ornithocory; resources