Seed Predation:

Seed predation, a ubiquitous phenomenon in tropical rain forests is an important factor of plant recruitment and forest regeneration. Although seed predation destroys large amounts of the seed crop of numerous tropical species, in many cases individual seed damage is only partial. The extent to which partial seed predation affects the recruitment of new individuals in the population depends on the type and magnitude of alteration of the germination behavior of the damaged seeds. This is a critical stage in the life history of plants. Seeds contribute to adult replacement and to increase in local population size and function as the means of dispersal to areas distant from the local population. Predation by animals can be a key factor affecting seed mortality, with consequences for plant abundance, distribution, and evolution. This includes any process inflicted on a plant’s seeds by an animal that results in the in-viability of the seed.

       For some species, damage by seed predators may account for the destruction of up to 100% of their seed crop in some sites and seasons and is high in a large number of species. Seed predation may be an important selective force guiding the evolution of seed characteristics, as well as a key determinant of population growth and recruitment, ultimately affecting forest dynamics and composition.

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