Data from: Fruit secondary compounds mediate the retention time of seeds in the guts of Neotropical fruit bats

Plants often recruit frugivorous animals to transport their seeds, however
gut passage can have varying effects on plant fitness depending on the
physical and chemical treatment of the seed, the distance seeds are
transported, and the specific site of deposition. One way in which plants
can mediate the effects of gut passage on fitness is by producing fruit
secondary compounds that influence gut retention time. Using frugivorous
bats (Carollia perspicillata: Phyllostomidae) and Neotropical plants in
the genus Piper, we compared gut retention time of seeds among five plant
species (P. colonense, P. peltatum, P. reticulatum, P. sancti-felicis, and
P. silvivagum) and investigated the role of fruit amides (piperine,
piplartine and whole fruit amide extracts from P. reticulatum) in
mediating gut retention time. Our results showed interspecific differences
in gut retention time; P. reticulatum seeds passed most slowly, while P.
silvivagum and P. colonense seeds passed most rapidly. Piplartine and P.
reticulatum amide extracts decreased gut retention time, while piperine
had no effect. In addition, we examined the effects of gut retention time
on seed germination success and speed in laboratory conditions. For
germination success, the effects were species-specific; germination
success increased with gut retention time for P. peltatum but not for
other species. Gut retention time did not influence germination speed in
any of the species examined. Plant secondary compounds have primarily been
studied in the context of their defensive role against herbivores and
pathogens, but may also play a key role in mediating seed dispersal
interactions.