Scatter-hoarding rodents constitute the primary means of seed dispersal and seedling establishment for a diversity of plant forms, including grasses, shrubs, and trees. We review evidence of the importance of scatter-hoarding rodents for the propagation of some key plant species in the fields of range, wildlife, and forest management.

Seed caches of various rodents, including deer mice, piñon mice, and pocket mice, facilitate establishment of juniper and piñon pine species in shrub-dominated rangelands. In the southern deserts, mesquite seedlings often establish from caches made by kangaroo rats, which are also the main dispersers of Indian ricegrass seeds

Three examples are discussed in which scatter-hoarding rodents affect seedling production of key shrub species: antelope bitterbrush, blackbrush, manzanita, and bearberry, in the field of wildlife management.

Sugar pine, Jeffrey pine, and ponderosa pine – all economically important timber trees in the western U.S. – have winged seeds to facilitate dispersal by wind, but it is scatter-hoarding of the seeds by chipmunks following initial wind dispersal that accounts for the vast majorit of seedlin roduction

The importance of this plant-animal interaction is not unique to conifers, as numerous hardwood trees utilized for timber and/or nut production also owe most of their seedling emergence to scatter-hoarding rodents.

Scatter-hoarding rodents are clearly central players in the productivity of many plant species, including numerous species that are key to natural resource management.