Common Palm Civet as a potential seed disperser of important plant species in Java Free

Common Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus Pallas) is known as a potential seed disperser. Most of the swallowed seeds is still intact and retains good germination power. This species is tolerant to human activities and is likely to inhabit human-disturbed ecosystems. Its ecological role as disperser was reported frequently, but only a report describe this role in Java 50 yr ago. Considering it, revealing plant species that is likely be dispersed by this species is important to support natural restoration of a degraded ecosystem in Java, Indonesia. We conducted a study in 600 ha secondary forest patch in Pekalongan, Center Java, Indonesia, managed by PERHUTANI. The study aimed to identify plant species that benefits from Civets for dispersing its seeds. The forest is a habitat of the Civet and rich in plant species diversity. We employed field survey to collect Civet-like feces and identify feces and seeds contained as well. During 2 mo field survey (May 2015 to June 2015) we collected 107 feces. As visual recognition may lead to misidentification of the feces, we applied a DNA-based technique employing species-specific marker. This technique successfully assigned 73 of 107 collected feces belonging to the Civet. The morphological observation identified 11 seeds species swallowed by the Civet. The size of the seeds ranged from 0.1 cm to 3.0 cm length and 0.1 cm to 1.7 cm wide. This study revealed that the Civet facilitates dispersal of some important plant species, such as Sugar Palm (Arenga pinnata Merr.), Arabican Coffee (Coffea Arabica L.) and Ficus (Ficus variegate Blume).