ABSTRACT
The use of artificial perches is an efficient technique to forest restoration. We aimed to (1) evaluate the effect of the presence of artificial perches on the number of forest seeds deposited on seed fall collectors, (2) identify the seed dispersal syndromes, and (3) to analyze the effect of distance from the forest border on seed input. Field work was performed in the municipality of Iguaba Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We installed 70 seed fall collectors (with diameter of 0.50 m) distributed in transects parallelly distant 5, 15 e 35 m from the forest border in abandoned pasture, and in one transect 10 m from the border, in the forest interior. Each transect outside the forest patch received ten seed fall collectors, installed under artificial perches, and ten seed fall collectors, installed without perches. In the forest interior, we installed ten collectors. During three weeks of sampling, we obtained 418 seeds, classified into 242 zoochoric seeds (57.9%) and 176 anemochoric seeds (42.1%). The average seed with the presence of artificial perch was 7.4 (± 3.9) seeds/m2/month while in the absence of artificial perch the average was 1.7 (± 1.8) seeds/m2/month, considering anemochoric and zoochoric seeds. Different distances from the forest edge, up to 35 m, did not influence the number of zoochoric and anemochoric seeds. The presence of artificial perches increased at 118 times the number of seeds dispersed by animals when compared to traps without perches. Artificial perches work as catalyzing structures for forest restoration, with a significant increase in the input of zoochoric seeds.
Keywords:
seed rain; zoochory; anemochory; succession; regeneration
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