Fecal pellets collected from 10 small-mammal species captured in a Panamanian cloud forest were examined for presence of spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Fifty-two percent of the 94 fecal samples examined contained spores of ≥1 of 6 arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi species, including Sclerocystis coremioides, Glomus fasciculatum, G. rubiforme, G. geosporum, and 2 unidentified Glomus species. G. fasciculatum was the most frequently encountered species, occurring in 87% of the fecal samples that contained spores and occurring in diets of 7 small-mammal species occupying terrestrial and arboreal habitats. Peromyscus mexicanus and Oryzomys devius frequently consumed arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and may be important spore dispersers in terrestrial habitats. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spores also were common in diets of the primarily arboreal rodent Reithrodontomys mexicanus, suggesting a potentially important role of this species in the dispersal of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spores to epiphytes of Neotropical cloud forests.
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1 May 2000
CONSUMPTION OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI BY TERRESTRIAL AND ARBOREAL SMALL MAMMALS IN A PANAMANIAN CLOUD FOREST
Scott A. Mangan,
Gregory H. Adler
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arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
cloud forest
mycophagy
Neotropics
Panama
rodents
spore dispersal