Frugivore choice and escape from pre-dispersal seed predators: the case of Dialium guianense and two sympatric primate species in southern Mexico Julieta Benı ´tez-Malvido . Isela Zermen ˜ o-Herna ´ndez . Ana Marı ´a Gonza ´lez-DiPierro . Rafael Lombera . Alejandro Estrada Received: 27 August 2015 / Accepted: 17 May 2016 / Published online: 27 May 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 Abstract Seed predation and dispersal play key roles in the regeneration of tropical trees. Pre-dispersal predation may cause high mortality in seed crops. Seeds may escape pre-dispersal predation when ingested with the fruit pulp and moved away from the parent trees by frugivores. In southern Mexico, we investigated if seed traits (i.e., length, width, and mass) and seed damage by insects on Dialium guianense differed according to seed source: from the tree crowns, the ground, and from howler (Alouatta pigra) and spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) feces. We counted the number of seeds with circular entrance and/or exit holes in their tegument. Ingested seeds were larger, heavier, and wider than non- ingested seeds. Seeds ingested by the howler were, however, significantly larger than those ingested by the spider monkey. Damaged seeds showed the lowest values for all seed traits. The proportion of damage declined significantly from seeds on the ground (37 %), to seeds in spider monkey feces (29 %), to seeds from tree crowns (11 %), and finally to seeds in howler monkey feces (7 %). Fruit selection by primates influences dispersal quality differently, even when feeding on the same plant species. The howler monkey may increase the reproductive success of D. guianense by selecting larger and predation-free seeds/fruits. Keywords Alouatta pigra Á Ateles geoffroyi Á Dialium guianense Á Frugivore choice Á Pre-dispersal seed predation Á Seed-feeding insects Introduction Seed predation and dispersal by animals play impor- tant roles in the population dynamics and regeneration of tropical trees, as well as in the maintenance of tropical rain forest biodiversity (Howe and Smallwood 1986; Schupp et al. 2010). Seeds are prone to predation by animals and infected by pathogens from the early stages of development into full maturity, and such predation is a key factor affecting seed mortality, with consequences for plant demography and Communicated by R.A. Montgomery. J. Benı ´tez-Malvido (&) Á I. Zermen ˜o-Herna ´ndez Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Auto ´noma de Me ´xico, Antigua Carretera a Pa ´tzcuaro No. 8701, Ex-Hacienda de San Jose ´ de la Huerta, 58090 Morelia, Michoaca ´n, Mexico e-mail: jbenitez@cieco.unam.mx A. M. Gonza ´lez-DiPierro Á R. Lombera Unidad Acade ´mica Multidisciplinaria Las Margaritas, Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas, Las Margaritas, Chiapas, Mexico A. Estrada Estacio ´ n de Biologı ´a ‘‘Los Tuxtlas’’, Instituto de Biologı ´a, Universidad Nacional Auto ´noma de Me ´xico, San Andre ´s Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico 123 Plant Ecol (2016) 217:923–933 DOI 10.1007/s11258-016-0617-6