Abstract
Anthropogenic pressure has led to fragmentation of tropical forests and defaunation of local animal communities (particularly large-bodied vertebrates). Loss of large frugivore species may be highly detrimental to fruiting species that produce large-sized seeds. This is because in their absence there might be a lack of frugivore species that can efficiently disperse their seed. Here, the dispersal of Carapa oreophila Kenfack (Meliaceae) is addressed in the context of Ngel Nyaki a fragmented Afromontane forest in north eastern Nigeria. The C. oreophila suffers from human-driven degradation and has lost large-bodied frugivores. To test for the effect of habitat (Core = “COR”, Edge = “EDG” and Fragment = “FRG”) on seed fate, in each habitat two 100m-long transects (100 m apart with five 1×1 m2 quadrats placed along its length, 25 m apart) were set up to examine how many seeds were: (a) consumed (predation); (b) covered under forest floor litter away from the plot (cached) or dug into the soil (buried); or (c) removed but not locatable (fate unknown, i.e. missing). In the highly degraded riparian fragments, where resources are scarce, rodents act more as seed predators than dispersers, consuming the majority of seed, whilst in forest, there was a greater propensity to hoard. Furthermore, it was deduced that rodents are more likely to disperse seed in the middle of C. oreophila’s fruiting season when the abundance of seed is greater. Results therefore suggest that the benefit C. oreophila receive from scatterhoarding rodents as substitute dispersers at Ngel Nyaki is dependent on the habitat; these effects thus modulate the role of rodents as predators or dispersers.