Spore dispersal through mycophagy by Japanese macaques

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Mushroom (fruiting body) is a reproductive organ of fungi. To clarify the ecological significance of the chemicalcontent, in particular toxins, we need to accumulate basic natural historical information of mycophagy by generalist mammals. The aims of this study is(1) to clarify species diversity of mushroom eaten by wild Japanese macaques in Yakushima and mushroom selection with respect to toxicity and(2) to prove experimentally that Japanese macaques disperse fungi spore effectively through mycophagy. According to our behavioral observation of wild Japanese macaques in Yakushima lasting 14 months, macaques ate 67 species (31 genera) of mushrooms. The proportion of toxic mushroom tended to be lower for the mushrooms that were eaten immediately (without examining behavior) and those that macaques ate whole of them (without stopping eating it). This suggests that macaques have previous knowledge on the toxic mushroom and it works to avoid toxic mushrooms, along with the on-site judgment based on the taste. We could not prove spore dispersal by experiment because it was difficult to feed mushroom to captive or provisioned macaques.