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Ecology

Palms in motion

Nature volume 426, pages 26–27 (2003)Cite this article

Being eaten alive then dumped with the resulting droppings can be all to the good — if you are a palm fruit in the Amazonian tropical forest, that is, and the consumer is a large mammal.

Getting away from one's parent has its advantages. When animals disperse plant seeds, for instance, the seeds avoid competing with their well-established parent and also escape the organisms that home in on the ready source of nutrition that an older tree represents. When the animal is large, and the seeds are ingested, the distances covered can be considerable. And the seeds conclude their journey securely buried in faeces that may further protect them from parasites and predators. The dispersal of palms by tapirs in the forests of Brazil, described by José Fragoso and colleagues in Ecology1, provides a good example of this process and also explains aspects of the patterns in which palms grow.

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Figure 1

MICHAEL & PATRICIA FOGDEN/CORBIS

References

  1. Fragoso, J. M., Silvius, K. M. & Correa, J. A. Ecology 84, 1998–2006 (2003).

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  1. Division of Life Sciences, King's College, Franklin–Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NN, UK

    Peter D. Moore

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  1. Peter D. Moore
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Moore, P. Palms in motion. Nature 426, 26–27 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/426026a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/426026a

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