2001 Volume 10 Issue 3 Pages 421-425
Interaction between seeds of bird-dispersed plant, Dysoxylum alliaceum and two army ant species, Dorylus laevigatus and Pheidologeton affinis was observed in Bogor Botanic Garden of West Java. Especially the effects of ant species on the seed survival and germination were investigated by field observation and experiment. In the observation of 100 D. allianceum seeds placed on ground, 71 (71.0%) of them were buried under soil and monopolized by two ant species. All buried seeds were alive though their arils were completely devoured. When ant effects were excluded by covering the seeds with a plastic mesh, 32 (80.0%) of 40 placed seeds were dead by fungus infection. In the seed plantation experiment, the germination rate in seed groups where the arils were removed by hand and by ants was higher than that in intact group. Seed burial and aril removal by ants appear to enhance the survival and germination rate of D. alliaceum seeds.
