We are adding seed traps to our CTFS forest plot at Ngel Nyaki, Nigeria. However a predator free trap is difficult to make, we know rats and lizards can get into most traps.
Ideas for the best design would be appreciated. Thanks.
You need to experiment. Add edible seeds to your traps and use camera-traps to identify who removes them. Most researchers in the Neotropics seem to use open traps and apparently don't lose many seeds to seed predators. In tropical Asia, in contrast, murid rats can climb even plastic supports and selectively remove preferred seeds, so you need either very frequent emptying of traps, or some form of rat excluder. In Hong Kong, where we had no very large seeds, we used a 1.5 X 1.5 cm wire mesh, which worked fine. We tested it with peanuts and sunflower seeds placed in traps. However, a mesh this size might exclude some larger seeds and wind-dispersed fruits, so you need to experiment yourself and see what works locally. But don't follow Neotropical practices without trials: they don't have murid rodents! Seed traps in Asian tropical forests also have problems with macaques, which are too intelligent and strong to exclude in any practical trap design, so you just have to make allowances. And elephants don't like any form of construction in their habitat....