Germination of cassowary egested and manually defleshed fruit.

Abstract

The germination of seed of seven tree species collected from the droppings of the dwarf cassowary, Casuarius bennetti picticollis, was compared with the germination of fresh fruit and manually defleshed seed of the same species. For four species, Flacourtia zippelii, Garcinia latissima, Cryptocarya sp. and Prunus sp., removal of the flesh, either manually or by passage through the gut of the cassowary, significantly enhanced germination of the seed compared with intact fruit. No germination was recorded for any of the seed or fruit of the three Elaeocarpus spp. tested. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of rainforest regeneration following logging.