Impact of delayed seed drop on rodent-mediated seed dispersal and predation of pine

Many plants exhibit a canopy seed bank, where seeds persist within the canopy for prolonged periods, gradually descending over time and potentially influencing seed predation and animal-mediated dispersal. However, the impact of delayed seed drop on animal predation and seed dispersal remains unclear. We used Chinese Armand pine seeds to simulate delayed seed drop of the canopy seed bank by releasing 7800 pine seeds in both winter and the following summer over 2 years, tracking their fates to investigate its effect on seed predation and dispersal by rodents in a pine plantation in southwest China. Results showed significant seasonal differences in seed fate. In summer, seeds experienced higher predation rates (62.08% vs 3.80% in winter) and lower scatter-hoarding rates (4.18% vs 15.40% in winter). Additionally, seeds in summer were dispersed farther (4.20 m vs. 3.56 m in winter) and primarily formed single-seed caches, as opposed to multi-seed caches in winter. Although delayed seed drop increased immediate predation risks, favorable summer conditions allowed for rapid germination, reducing long-term exposure to predation. In conclusion, while delayed seed drop increases immediate predation risks and reduces caching, it concurrently enhances dispersal distances and reduces cache size.