DISPERSAL OF SEEDS BY FRUGIVOROUS ANIMALS IN TEMPERATE FORESTS

Wet temperate forests in Chile have many more fleshy-fruited species (especially trees) than North American temperate forests. Chilean forests harbor a lower diversity of frugivores than North America, and their density in the main season of dispersal may be lower also. The composition of the frugivore fauna in both regions is similar at the level of taxonomic class and general foraging guild, and both regions differ sharply from temperate forests in New Zealand. Birds and mammals in tropical forests and in Spain (and perhaps Chile) often favor fruits with different suites of characters, but in North America, there is extensive overlap in the fruit genera consumed by these two kinds of frugivores. These basic patterns are used to generate some elementary predictions that may provide a focus for comparative studies.