Title: Waves of seed propagation induced by delayed animal dispersion,
Abstract: We study a model of seed dispersal that considers the inclusion of an animal
disperser moving diffusively, feeding on fruits and transporting the seeds,
which are later deposited and capable of germination. The dynamics depends on
several population parameters of growth, decay, harvesting, transport,
digestion and germination. In particular, the deposition of transported seeds
at places away from their collection sites produces a delay in the dynamics,
whose effects are the focus of this work. Analytical and numerical solutions of
different simplified scenarios show the existence of travelling waves. The
effect of zoochory is apparent in the increase of the velocity of these waves.
The results support the hypothesis of the relevance of animal mediated seed
dispersion when trying to understand the origin of the high rates of vegetable
invasion observed in real systems.