In desert areas, it is well known that there is a massive consumption of seeds . Most studies have been essentially concerned with annual plant seeds ,and studies of cactus seeds have been carried out on some Opuntia spp., mainly in the Chihuahuan Desert 'nopaleras' . Frugivores are very important seed dispersal agents , and in arid and semi-arid habitats they constitute important cactus fruit and seed predators. These predators are mainly rodents, and to a lesser extent, ants, birds, lizards, and some mammals Wendelken & Martin () demonstrated that 18 avian species are potential dispersers of Stenocereus eichlamii and Pilosocereus leucocephalus seeds, but subsequent germination trials were not made. Cortes Figueira et al. () reported that Melocactus violaceus fruits are consumed by a specific lizard species and seed dormancy was broken when the seeds passed through the lizard's digestive tract.
The damage produced by the consumer to the seed is variable, for example, while ants do not kill the embryo and only remove the pulp, funiculus rests, or mucilaginous layer adhering to the testa , rodents completely destroy the seed.  Silvius () worked with 14 avian consumers of Stenocereus griseus and showed that while some birds destroyed the seeds prior to or during digestion of the fruits, others defecated intact seeds viable for germination. In all cases of non-damaged seeds, a portion can be incorporated into a soil seed bank and can germinate if they are deposited onto a safe microsite where conditions are suitable.