Plant-animal interactions are critical, as the survival of many plants depends on pollination and seed dispersal by animals. Over time, plant-animal mutualisms have formed in which plants provide food for animals, and in exchange animals spread pollen or disperse seeds, facilitating plant reproduction. Animals aid in long-distance seed dispersal which reduces competition and allows new plant populations to establish, increasing chances of long-term survival of species.

Animal Seed Dispersal
Animal seed dispersal is a primary method of dispersal in the Chiquibul. Arboreal animals are most important in seed dispersal as they eat the fruit with the seed still intact, giving the seed the highest chance of survival. Terrestrial mammals are also important seed dispersers, but many of the seeds they find on the ground are already damaged.¹ Birds are important to long-distance dispersal, but many seeds eaten by birds do not survive.¹ In addition, not all seeds pass undamaged through an animals gut and therefore a high number of animals eating fruit is required to ensure that some seeds survive and become established.¹ Survival and establishment of seeds is critical in maintaining forest composition, structure, and function.

Examples of important seed dispersers in the Chiquibul

• The Central American Spider Monkey is primarily frugivorous spending the majority of its feeding time eating fruit, and “56 percent of its diet is composed of the fruits, seeds, leaves, and buds of the breadnut tree.^1″ However, it is an important disperser of Stemmadenia donnell-smithii and copal tree seeds as they are undamaged after passing through.¹ Due to their wide home range and ability to travel 5 kilometers a day, they are ideal dispersers.¹
• Baird’s Tapir is known to eat 51 different types of fruits and of them, 39 (76%) are undamaged after passing through.¹ It is believed to be one of the few remaining natural dispersers of large seeds such those of guanacaste and hog plum trees.¹
• The Collared Peccary and the White Lipped Peccary occur across Central and South America. They are omnivorous but known to have a preference for fruit and pass many seeds through undamaged.¹ There has been no research on feeding habits, but due to their wide home ranges, they are thought to be important seed dispersers.¹
• Scarlet Macaw diets consists of the seeds and unripe fruits of the hog plum, quamwood, cedar, the trumpet tree, and prickly yellow.¹
• Great Currasows are spread from Mexico to northern South America and 80% of their diet is composed of fruit and seeds including those of Thevetia ahouai, breadnut, fig, chicle, and cherry trees.¹

Animal Pollination
Pollination is critical in the production of new seeds and fruit and the survival of plant species. Mammals and birds play an important role in pollination. Bats are the most important mammals for pollination in the Chiquibul, especially for the ceiba tree which is the sacred tree of the Maya.¹ Hummingbirds are the most important bird pollinators in the Chiquibul. Many plants develop special adaptations to attract certain pollinators or deter others. Animals coevolve with the animals they feed off of. Hummingbird beaks are designed for tubed flowers¹ that are often red or yellow in color. By developing the characteristics that hummingbirds favor, the plants are ensuring pollination by hummingbirds, but at the same time they are putting their survival at risk by specializing in one pollinator. In addition to hummingbirds, vireos, tanagers, finches, orioles blackbirds, and honeycreepers are also known as flower pollinators in the Chqiuibul.¹

¹Bridgewater, S. (2012). A natural history of Belize: inside the Maya forest. Austin: University of Texas Press.