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Some Aspects of Seed Dispersal by Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka


Affiliations
1 National Research Council of Sri Lanka, Ground Floor, Sri Lanka Institute of Architects Building, 120/07, Vidya Mawatha, Colombo 07 (00700), Sri Lanka
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihinthale 50300, Sri Lanka
 

Our understanding of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of seed dispersal by Asian elephants is at its infancy. We explored some of these aspects at Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka, focusing on the germination potential of dispersed seeds, and the influence of gut passage on germination and latency in the seeds of Bauhinia racemosa. Seeds of ten species were dispersed and their germination potential was generally poor. However, gut passage significantly reduced the latency period of B. racemosa. Long-term research on frugivory, passage times of seeds and ranging behaviour will help develop wildlife management plans.

Keywords

Asian Elephants, Bauhinia racemosa, Latency, Seed Dispersal.
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  • Some Aspects of Seed Dispersal by Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka

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Authors

Perera Mahesha
National Research Council of Sri Lanka, Ground Floor, Sri Lanka Institute of Architects Building, 120/07, Vidya Mawatha, Colombo 07 (00700), Sri Lanka
Vandercone Rajnish
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihinthale 50300, Sri Lanka

Abstract


Our understanding of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of seed dispersal by Asian elephants is at its infancy. We explored some of these aspects at Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka, focusing on the germination potential of dispersed seeds, and the influence of gut passage on germination and latency in the seeds of Bauhinia racemosa. Seeds of ten species were dispersed and their germination potential was generally poor. However, gut passage significantly reduced the latency period of B. racemosa. Long-term research on frugivory, passage times of seeds and ranging behaviour will help develop wildlife management plans.

Keywords


Asian Elephants, Bauhinia racemosa, Latency, Seed Dispersal.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv118%2Fi4%2F648-654