Zamia Seed Dispersers — monteza-claudio

Unraveling the seed dispersers of the world’s sole ‘epiphytic’ gymnosperm: Zamia pseudoparasitica

Z. pseudoparasitica with a complete cone

Z. pseudoparasitica with seeds taken from the cone

While Lily is climbing, Pedro and I can only take photos and watch birds.

We need to evaluate which branch is the safest for Lily to climb

Fieldwork isn't perfect. We forgot the base pole of the slingshot and had to improvised

The cones of Z. pseudoparasitica are situated up to 20 meters above the ground.

Due to the size of cones and seeds on Z. pseudoparasitica, not every species can be the disperser.

Without the slingshot base pole, we spent almost 3 hours to get the right branch.

We traveled across the country, we need to sleep in the car.

We have seen amazing sunsets while looking for the zamia seed dispersers.

A cone of Z. pseudoparasitica is about half meter.

Each seed on a cone of Z. pseudoparasitica is about 5-7 cm.

Our car broke in a little and far away town, but luckily we found an angel that cooked patacones for us

We waited for hours before we were rescued. That's fieldwork, that's science!

We also take every opportunity for great selfies

Click on the pic below to see a 360 view of our fieldwork

Zamia pseudoparasitica is an endemic species to Panama and the only epiphytic zamia on earth.
In general, little is known about the biology of this species, inhabiting the mountain cloud forests in Western Panama. It can be found between 50 and 1000 meters above sea level, however most populations are situated above 500 meters. Individuals can reach up to 20 meters above the ground on large trunks. In some places is unsual to find one individuals, while in other places individuals are common.

To understand ecological aspects of the life cycle of Z. pseudoparasitica, which is key for the species survival, we climb tree and deploy camera traps in front of individuals seed cones to unravel what species of animals are potentially dispersing its seeds. To do this, we put together our previous field experience as biologist: Lilisbeth Rodriguez (Lily) have been climbing trees to do research for 3 years, Pedro Castillo have been assisting camera trapping fieldwork since 2014, and I have been doing camera trapping work since 2013.

Our adventures take place in three different mountain cloud forests in Western Panama. All of which are national parks and part of the Talamanca chain of mountains. Luckily, we were able to finish collecting camera traps from the field before quarantine to reduced propagation of #covid19 in Panama.

We are currently working on photo processing…So, stay tuned to know what species of animals are visiting the seed cones of Z. pseudoparasitica individuals.

In collaboration with: Lilisbeth Rodriguez, Pedro L. Castillo C., and Juan Carlos Villarreal. During this study, researchers are hosted and/or funded by the following institutions.

**Click on the pic to see a 360 view of our fieldwork**