Seed consumption by small fish follows peak seed availability in a tropical dry forest river

Seed consumption and dispersal by fish has been more extensively described in natural Neotropical large river systems of Amazonia, where ichthyochory follows a seasonal gradient associated with a floodpulse that creates long-lasting seasonally flood zones. It has been shown that it is relevant in maintaining the plant community structure of wetlands, but its effects on plant communities in seasonal dry forests are largely unknown. The Amacuzac hydrological system, which runs through one of the most extensive seasonal tropical dry forests of Central Mexico, shows a marked climatic seasonality, which in turn determines a transient increase in river flow and its potential to overflow, resulting in a drag effect on banks, and in the river carrying three times more seeds in the rainy than in the dry season. Another characteristic of the system is the coexistence of native and non-native fish species, due to the fact that the middle part of the river receives discharges from four tributaries ...