Fruit characters in the diet of syntopic large frugivorous forest bird species in French Guiana

A-07-37International audienceCharacteristics of the plants on which the four largest arboreal and terrestrial forest frugivorous bird species of French Guiana (Tinamus major, Tinamidae; Psophia crepitans, Psophiidae; Crax alector and Penelope marail, Cracidae) base their diet were compared. The characteristics of 102 plant species and their fruits were compared in order to determine whether some syndromes were associated with particular bird species. Multifactorial analyses were conducted using either number of plant species or quantity of fruits of each plant species ingested by each bird species. Sets of fruit character-states are associated with particular bird species such that distinct traits are linked to seed-predation or seed-dispersal. A possible separation between arboreal and terrestrial consumption is also indicated. These associations between avian frugivores and fruit and fruiting plants' traits are discussed in terms of their dispersal value to plant species and the likelihood of attracting seed-dispersers as opposed to defending seeds against predators. The interactions between fruiting plants and consumers are considered mutualistic (benefi t both the plant and the bird) in the case of Penelope and Psophia, but are predator-prey interactions in that of Crax and Tinamus, although Crax may be a disperser for some plants whose small seeds pass unaltered through its digestive tract. The study highlights once more the need for more community-wide approaches to plant-animal interactions