Endozoochory of (Cocoplum) by (Gopher Tortoise) facilitates rapid germination and colonization in a suburban nature preserve.

Some large-seeded plants lack effective seed dispersal agents when they are introduced as ornamental plants to new areas, but can rapidly colonize a landscape if seed dispersal functions are restored. We examined whether (Gopher Tortoise) facilitated the spread of (Cocoplum; Chrysobalanaceae) over a 14-year period in a suburban nature preserve (in Jupiter, FL, USA) by: (i) comparing germination patterns among gut-passed, hand-depulped and whole fruit treatments, and (ii) testing hypotheses about environmental predictors of the spatial distribution of , including information about movement pathways and burrow locations. While we did not find a significant difference in the total proportion of seeds that germinated in each treatment, time to event analysis revealed that seeds that were found in faeces germinated significantly earlier than seeds that were hand-depulped or that were planted as whole fruits, supporting a lone scarification effect.