Ecology 5th Edition by Manuel Molles

Exercise 3

Daniel Janzen (1981a, 1981b) proposed that the seeds of the guanacaste tree were once dispersed by several species of large mammals that became extinct following the end of the Pleistocene about 10,000 years ago. There may have been other plant species with a similar relationship with large herbivorous mammals. How do you think the distributions of these plant species may have changed from the time of the extinctions of Pleistocene mammals until the introduction of other large herbivores such as horses? How might the introduction of horses about 500 years ago have affected the distribution of these species? How could you test your ideas?