AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Spider monkeys are important seed dispersers for their rainforest homes. When animals eat fruit and nuts from trees and then go on their merry way, they eventually defecate the seeds and spread the tree species throughout the area.

Detailed explanation-2: -.-Spider monkeys swallowed and dispersed the seeds of 71 plant species during the study pe-riod. The fruits of four additional species were also eaten, but the seeds not swallowed and hence not dispersed. Seed predation by spider monkeys was not observed and only intact seeds were found in fecal samples.

Detailed explanation-3: -Spider monkeys fed on the fruits of at least 152 plant species and swallowed seeds from more than 98% of these. Collected faecal samples contained seeds from at least 133 different plant species, with an average of 1.9 species (range: 0–7) per defecation.

Detailed explanation-4: -When vertebrates swallow fruits, they carry the seeds inside their guts and give them a treatment during the passage through their digestive system. Thus, most trees from tropical forests are dispersed by vertebrates (e.g. birds, bats, monkeys, tapirs, rodents). The larger the frugivore, the more fruits it eats.

Detailed explanation-5: -When seeds simply fall in the forest, they end up near their parent tree. Here, seeds compete with other seeds from the same tree. Their chances of survival are low. But seeds that are carried away by spider monkeys and other dispersers are more likely to survive and grow into a healthy plant.