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Forest rodents play an essential role as seed dispersal vectors through their caching behaviors.Using seeds of Quercus aliena,Q.glandulifera and Cyclobalanopsis engleriana (Fagaceae),which are dominant but poorly studied species in the Qinling Mountains,centra China,we investigated seed predation and dispersal by forest rodents in 2010 and 2011.There were significant differences in rodent seed eating and caching strategies among the three tree species.Seeds of Q.aliena and C engleriana had hard coats,high nutrition contents(e.g.protein,fat and starch),and long germination schedules(C.engleriana only).They were less frequently eaten in situ,but more likely to be eaten after removal or cached.Seeds of Q.glandulifera had soft coats and low nutrition contents and were more often eaten in situ and less likely to be eaten after removal or cached.Our findings indicated that forest rodents were primarily responsible for seed predation and dispersal of these three tree species in the Qinling Mountains,and seed traits,especially coat hardness,nutrition content and germination schedule,were important factors influencing rodent eating and caching behaviors.In addition,seed dispersal process of each tree species differed significantly between the two years,reflecting the effect of mast seeding on the eating and caching strategies of forest rodents.