Left: Directly-fallen fruits which have exocarp and mesocarp intact.
Right: Bird-disseminated fruits which were fed on by birds and have exocarp and mesocarp removed.
The field method to investigate patterns of post-dispersal
predation on fruits of Cornus controversa
1. There are two types of fruits fallen from the parent trees.
Left: Directly-fallen fruits which have exocarp and mesocarp intact.
Right: Bird-disseminated fruits which were fed on by birds and have exocarp and mesocarp removed.
2. Nylon string (30 cm) is adhered to each fruit by epoxy resin. The position of a fruit to adhered to string is scraped just a little by abrasive paper. For a directly-fallen fruit, exocarp and mesocarp are removed locally at the position in advance.
These are examples for bird-disseminated fruits.
3. Twenty sets of a string and a fruit are tied to a peg. Each string is labeled.
4. Each peg is inserted to soil. Fruits attached to strings are mixed with litter as naturally as possible.
5. Some fruits suffer predation apparently by some ground mammals.
