Is there really less fruit available for animals in the Asian-Tropics compared to the Neotropics?
” In the tropics, animals are important to plants for the dispersal of seeds. Conversely, fruit resources provided by plants, as reward to to animals for dispersal services, form an important food resource for many vertebrate species. We know that there are regional variations in the diversity of fruit-eating animals in the Amazons, Central Africa and Malesia. It is hypothesized that the lower diversity of fruit-eating animals in the African and Asian tropics compared to the Amazons is due to differences in fruit supply to animals. Dr Johanna Choo (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) tested this hypothesis by comparing the fruit resource availability and fruit-eating bird diversity in a site in Sarawak and a site in the Peruvian Amazon. All are welcome! Time: 4pm Venue: Gardens Briefing Room, Visitor Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens. Contact: Janice_YAU@nparks.gov.
