Role of grazing cattle on seed dispersal of plants in a hill pasture 2 . effects of ruminal digestion on seed germinability of five plant species

摘要

Plant seeds, after ingested by grazing herbivores,are exposed to gastro‐intestinal digestion.While there have been reports on the change of germination rate of plant seeds by passage in the alimentary tract ( e.g., Ocumpaugh and Swakon, 1993), there is still scarce information on the effects of ruminal ( microbial) and abomasum ( enzymatic) digestion on seed germinability of herbaceous plants.The aim of this study was to examine how the ruminal and abomasal digestion affect seed germinability of 5 major plant species common to Japanese hill pastures.