Fruiting phenology and pre-dispersal seed predation in a rainforest in southern Western Ghats, India. In: Tropical Fruits and Frugivores: The Search for Strong Interactors (eds. J. Lawrence Dew and Jean Philippe Boubli).

The mid-elevation non-dipterocarp wet forests in southern Western Ghats, India are some of the largest stretches of undisturbed forest remaining in this biodiversity hotspot. We established a long-term study of tree phenology in this forest to study the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on phenological patterns. We measured seed predation of selected canopy trees across three years. Seed predation intensity was measured through seed fall, phenology by fruit fall, and animal abundance through transect sampling. A total of 42 tree species was sampled for phenology and 35 species for seed predation intensity. Nine of these species fruited annually, seven fruited once in two years and the remaining species fruited once in several years. Two primates and two arboreal squirrels were the major seed predators in the forest. Primates were responsible for some intact seed dispersal, while squirrels were obligate seed predators. For numerous tree species seed predators were the only seed dispersers. Seed predator abundance showed no significant changes across years except for the case of the lion tailed macaque, which appeared to show seasonal population movement. No community-wide mass fruiting phenomena were noticeable in the forest but there was significant variation in fruit availability between years. A few tree species appeared to show mast fruiting in certain years. A majority of the species suffered high levels of seed predation. Seed predation intensity decreased during mast fruiting events for certain species while for others it had no effect. There was no difference in predation intensity between annually and supraannually fruiting species. Masting as a means of overcoming high seed predation at the population level in the Western Ghats was limited to only a few tree species.