[Seasonal variations of wild apricot seed dispersal and hoarding by rodents in rehabilitated land].

Rodents feed with and disperse plant seeds, which may thereby affect the seed spatiotemporal distribution, germination, and seedling establishment, and eventually play an important role in the restoration of deforested area. Taking the State-owned Yugong Forest Farm in Jiyuan of Henan, China as study site, the tagged seeds of wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca) were artificially released in rehabilitated land in the spring, summer, and autumn 2008, aimed to investigate their dispersal and hoarding by rodents in different seasons. It was found that Apodemus peninsulae, Niviventer confucianus, and Apodemus agrarius were the main rodent species acting on the seed dispersal and hoarding.