GERMINATION OF LITHREA-CAUSTICA (MOL) H-E T-A (ANACARDIACEAE) SEEDS DISPERSED BY PSEUDALOPEX SPP (CANIDAE) IN THE CHILEAN MATORRAL

The effect of the passage of seeds of Lithrea caustica through the dig estive tract of the native Chilean fox Pseudalopex spp. was studied by comparing the germination of seeds recovered from scats, and seeds co llected manually from trees. Twenty fox scats collected in 1989 contai ned mostly fruits of L. caustica (72.6%), as well as smaller percentag es of Aristotelia chilensis (24.8%) and Cryptocarya alba (2.6%) seeds. Germination assays showed that during most of the experiment, litre s eed recovered from fox scats germinated in a significatly lower propor tion than seeds collected directly from L. cuastica trees. However, th is difference was not significant towards the end of the experiment (d ay 85). A lower germination rate in the seeds recovered from scats sug gests that the passage of L. caustica seeds through the fox's digestiv e tract could have a delaying effect on the important proportion of se eds consumed. We hypothesize that L. caustica seeds could have a laxat ive effect on Pseudalopex spp. and discuss the implication of the latt er in the dispersion of L. caustica seeds.