Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-7qhmt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T10:56:19.859Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The role of clumped defecation in the spatial distribution of soil nutrients and the availability of nutrients for plant uptake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2005

Kenneth Feeley
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Duke University, PO Box 90338, Durham NC 27708, USA. (Email: feeley@duke.edu)

Abstract

Many types of primate, particularly species of the genus Alouatta (howler monkey) defecate as a social group and tend to defecate repeatedly in specific locations (sometimes referred to as latrines; Andresen 2001, 2002; Gilbert 1997). The importance of these clumped defecations in the dispersal of seeds has been well investigated (Andresen 2001, 2002; Estrada & Coates-Estrada 1984, 1991; Julliot 1996). In contrast, no study has yet looked at the role of clumped defecation in the spatial distribution of soil nutrients and the availability of nutrients for plant uptake.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)