Adherent dispersal is a dispersal method in which seeds are dispersed by adhering to the body surface of the animal.Until now, little was known about basic information such as which animal species spread the seeds of which plant species and what factors influenced the amount of attached seeds.

　Therefore, from 2021 to 2022, the research team will compare the types and amounts of seeds attached to the body surface of six species of medium-sized mammals (red fox, red fox, A stuffed model of a badger, a raccoon, a raccoon dog, a Japanese weasel, and a masked palm civet was used to investigate the adhesion of seeds.The model was equipped with wheels, and the investigator pushed a stick attached to the back of the device to move it 6 m at each of five points in the research area, reproducing the walking of the animal.

　As a result, the amount of attached seeds was affected by the length of the animal's hair and the width of the overlapping range between the height at which the seeds set and the height of each body part of the animal.In addition, even after the plant body dies in winter, the plants that carry out adherent spraying have seeds attached to the plant body in a state that can adhere to animals, and the period during which the seeds can be sprayed is very long.Furthermore, since the height at which seeds are set changes when a dead plant body falls down, it was suggested that the animal species to which seeds are likely to adhere may differ between when the plant is growing and when it is dead.

　Future tasks include elucidation of the series of seed dispersal processes, such as where the attached seeds disperse (drop off), and evaluation of the role of seed dispersers in the current ecosystem by alien species.

Paper information:[Acta Oecologica] Seed attachment by epizoochory depends on animal fur, body height, and plant phenology