The seed samples obtained from bat feces and seed rain were dried and counted in the laboratory and
identified using a reference collection from the ECO-SC-H (ECOSUR, San Cristóbal de Las Casas) and CHIP
(SEMAHN, Tuxtla Gutiérrez) herbariums, as well as through consultations with a specialist from the
Instituto de Biología of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, Mexico City).
Seed germination
We evaluated the germination of the three most abundant plant species found in the fecal material
collected from captured bats. The seeds were planted in germination boxes with a mix of vermiculite and
soil taken from the study sites and were irrigated daily. The germination boxes remained in situ, at the ejido
Emilio Rabasa, in order to maintain conditions comparable to the study area.
Seed germination was recorded when the cotyledons became visible. We counted germinated plants every
three days during 25 days after the planting. To determine the germination latency, we recorded the
number of days it took for the first seed of each plant species to germinate. The final germination
percentage for the three plant species was determined by the total number of seeds that successfully
germinated. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine if the data fit within a normal
distribution. Considering the non-normal distribution of the data, we used a Kruskal-Wallis test to
determine if differences exist among the germination rates of each bat-dispersed plant species. Finally, the
Chi-square test was used to verify if there were any differences in the germination efficiency among the
three plant species.
All statistical analyses were conducted in the IBM SPSS Statistics15.0 version, with a probability level of α
≤ 0.05.