关键词: 啮齿动物, 贮藏行为, 种子, 果实, 扩散, 互惠, 协同进化

Abstract: This paper reviews research achievements on rodents'hoarding behavior of plant seeds and fruits , and aims to provide resources for future studies on their roles in the dispersal of plant seeds and fruits. Most rodents consume large quantities of plant seeds and fruits. On the other hand , they disperse plant seeds and fruits away from parent trees or other seed sources via their hoarding behavior and scattering them under the litters or in the shallow layers of the surface soil. This may influence spatio-temporal distribution of the seeds and fruits , and consequently provide advantageous conditions for seed germination and seedling establishment. It has widely evolved a mutually beneficial or co-evolutionary relationship between rodents and plant seeds or fruits. Rodents' hoarding behavior may affect the dispersal of plant seeds and fruits via the following main processes : selection , transportation , burial (ie. scatter-hoarding) of the plant seeds and fruits ; and their consequential impacts on the survival and mortality of seeds and seedlings.

Key words: Rodents, Hoarding behavior, Seeds, Fruits, Dispersal, Mutualism, Co2evolution