[PCA] If Apes Go Extinct, So Could Entire Forests

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Though the subject of this article does not pertain to US native species, I
thought it was a good reminder that many plant species rely on animals for
dispersal, not just to move to new locations but because the seeds need to
pass through the digestive tract in order to germinate.

There are recent articles on the spread of invasive plants via animals, but
I'm not sure what recent information is available on beneficial/requisite
dispersal for natives. If you are aware of any, please feel free to post
them in response to this message (but please just delete the email trail in
your response).

If Apes Go Extinct, So Could Entire Forests

By John R. Platt | March 11, 2015

Bonobo poop matters. Well, maybe not the poop itself, but what’s in it.

You see, bonobos eat a lot of fruit, and fruit contains seeds. Those seeds
travel through a bonobo’s digestive system while the bonobo itself travels
through the landscape. A few hours later, the seeds end up being deposited
far from where the fruits were plucked. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is
where new trees come from.

But what if there were no apes? A new study published February 27 in the
journal*Oryx*
<http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=9579414&jid=ORX&volumeId=-1&issueId=-1&aid=9579413&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=&fulltextType=&fileId=>
found
that many tree and plant species in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
rely almost exclusively on bonobos for seed dispersal. In the LuiKotale
forest, where the study was conducted, 18 plant species were completely
unable to reproduce if their seeds did not first travel through a bonobo’s
guts. According to the paper if the bonobos disappeared, the plants would
also likely go extinct.
Full story:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2015/03/11/if-apes-go-extinct-trees/

-Patricia
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