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Diet and fruit choice of the brown palm civet Paradoxurus jerdoni, a viverrid endemic to the Western Ghats rainforest, India [ 282-300 ]Divya Mudappa, Ajith Kumar and Ravi ChellamAbstract Brown palm civet diet was assessed by examining 1,013 scats between May 1996 and December 1999 in Kalakad- Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. The brown palm civet is predominantly frugivorous, with fruits of 53 native species and four species of introduced plants comprising 97% of its diet. There was high intra- and inter-annual variation in the diet of brown palm civets. Civets adapted to fluctuations in fruit resources by feeding on a diverse range of species and supplementing their year-round, primarily frugivorous, diet with invertebrates and vertebrates. Civets mainly ate fruits of trees and lianas, rarely those of herbs or shrubs. Fruits eaten by civets were mostly small (<1 cm diameter), multi- seeded, pulpy berries, and drupes with moderate to high water content, along with several large (>2 cm) fruits like Palaquium ellipticum, Elaeocarpus serratus, Holigarna nigra, and Knema attenuata. The brown palm civet is a key mammalian seed disperser in the Western Ghats rainforest by being predominantly frugivorous and dispersing a diverse array of plant species. As brown palm civets can persist in fragmented rainforest, they can play a major role in restoration of degraded fragments in these landscapes. The results emphasize the need to recognize the importance of small carnivores as seed dispersers in tropical forests. Full Text PDF General interest summaries (when available)
Civets are small cat-sized mammalian carnivores in Asia and Africa, primarily active by night and mostly tree-dwelling. These habits make them cryptic and difficult to study. Among this diverse group, palm civets (sub-family Paradoxurinae) are reported to have a predilection for fruits, despite being taxonomically categorised as carnivores, but the extent of fruit consumption and its implications are poorly known. This study explored aspects of diet and fruit choice in the brown palm civet (Paradoxurus jerdoni), a species found only in the rainforests of Western Ghats hills, India. In this study, over a thousand scats (faecal droppings) were collected and analysed across more than three years in the rainforest of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve. The study revealed that this civet species consumed fruits throughout the year, eating at least 53 species of rainforest plants, mainly from trees and lianas, and pulpy drupes and berries. Fruits comprised around 97% of the diet but were supplemented with animal matter particularly during times of low fruit availbility in the rainforest. The seeds of these fruits are passed undamaged in the scats. Thus, through the year in the rainforest, brown palm civets carry thousands of mature seeds of diverse rainforest plants and deposit them at various distances in the surrounding forest—an invaluable service of seed dispersal. As a wide diversity of tree species are required to meet the brown palm civet’s year-round requirements, conversion of tropical forests to large-scale monoculture plantations in the Western Ghats is likely to negatively affect the species. However, the brown palm civet does persist in fragmented landscapes containing remnants of rainforest amid other land uses such as tea and coffee plantations, contingent on the occurrence of a diversity of fruit tree species in remnant fragments and within other land uses (e.g., shade trees in coffee plantations). In tropical forest areas where other dispersers such as fruit-eating mammals and birds have disappeared due to habitat loss and hunting, species such as the brown palm civet take on a greater value in seed dispersal and forest regeneration. Español: El grupo de mamíferos conocidos como “civets” son carnívoros del tamaño de un gato domestico que existen en Asia y Africa. Son principalmente nocturnos y arborícolas, rasgos que dificultan su estudio. A pesar de sus hábitos carnívoros, los civets consumen cantidades importantes de frutos. Este estudio documenta aspectos de la dieta frugívora del “brown palm civet” (Paradoxurus jerdoni) en poblaciones de la especie en las selvas de las colinas del Western Ghatt en la India. La dieta frugívora de este carnívoro fue evaluada a través del examen de excretas colectas durante tres años, encontrando que consume los frutos de cuando menos 53 especies de plantas, principalmente arboles y lianas. Asimismo, fue notorio que las semillas de estas pasan sin daño aparente por el tracto digestivo del animal. Así parece que a través del año los civets dispersan miles de semillas en la selva y a distancias variables de su origen, lo que sugiere que estos carnívoros juegan un papel importante en el proceso natural de regeneración de la selva. Mientras que la fragmentación de la selva por la actividad humana y la conversión de esta a monocultivos provoca la desaparición o reducción en el tamaño de las poblaciones de muchos dispersores de semillas, el “brown palm civet” parace ser capaz de persistir en paisajes fragmentados, por lo que este podría estar jugando un papel importante en el proceso natural de restauración de la selva en algunas areas. Português: Nesse artigo os autores relatam uma investigação sobre a dieta frugívora de um carnívoro, o ocelote de palma marrom no Ghatts ocidental, Índia. O estudo fornece novas informações sobre a história natural desse pequeno conhecido e esquivo mamífero arbóreo e seu possível papel na regeneração florestal via o serviço de dispersão de sementes que proporciona para muitas plantas que são suas fontes de frutos. Os autores relatam que a habilidade do ocelote de palma marrom de persistir em paisagens fragmentadas é altamente ligada à ocorrência da diversidade de espécies de frutos em fragmentos remanescentes e dos outros usos da terra na paisagem ao redor (e.g., árvores de sombra em plantações de café) e argumentam que desde que algumas dessas áreas sejam muitas vezes pobres em outros grandes mamíferos e aves como agentes dispersores de sementes pela perda de habitat e caça, a importância do ocelote de palma marrom como dispersor persiste nessas paisagens impactadas pelo homem num ponto de vista altamente relevante para a conservação. Français: Dans cet article, les auteurs rapportent une étude sur le régime frugivore d'un carnivore, la civette palmiste de Jerdon dans l'ouest des Ghats en Inde. L'étude fournit de nouvelles informations sur l'histoire naturelle de ce mammifère arboricole peu connu et insaisissable et sur son rôle possible dans la régénération de la forêt tropicale au travers des services de dispersion des graines aux nombreuses plantes dont il se nourrit. Les auteurs signalent que la capacité de la civette palmiste à persister dans les paysages fragmentés est étroitement liée à la présence d'une diversité d'espèces d'arbres fruitiers dans les fragments restants et dans les autres terres qui les entourent (par exemple, les plantations d'arbres d'ombrage dans les plantations de café). Ils argumentent que puisque ces terrains sont souvent dépourvues d’autres grands mammifères et d’oiseaux agissant en tant que disperseurs à cause de la perte d'habitat et la chasse, l’importance de la civette palmiste en tant que disperseur dans de tel paysages impactés est très pertinente d'un point de vue de conservation. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other authors or Tropical Conservation Science. |
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Tropical Conservation Science is an open-access e-journal that publishes research relating to conservation of tropical forests and other tropical ecosystems.
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