Abstract: Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis) is an endangered species and prone to extinction in China. While the contribution of birds to the recruitment of bird-dispersed trees, the effects of post-dispersal seed removal by rodents and ants were overlooked. In this study, we investigated post-dispersal seed removal by understory animals for T. chinensis in a seed placement experiment. Seven species (four rodent species, i.e. Callosciurus pygerythrus, Tamiops swinhoei, Rattus tanezumi, Niviventor confucianu and three ant species i.e. Aenictus bobaiensis, Monomorium floricola, Odontomachus monticola) could remove seeds in the ground. Seed removal by rodents was the main factor for the disappearance of T. chinensis seeds, with seed disappearance rate varying among patches and edge habitats. Mother tree forest and bamboo forest were main foraging habitats for rodents, with feeding rate in both habitats being significantly higher than that in pecan plantation. The edge habitats were corridors instead of foraging fields for rodents. Callosciurus pygerythrus presented frequently in habitats outside the mother tree patch. For other species, habitat fragment preferred mother tree patch and bamboo forest but evaded pecan plantation. Seed removal by rodents could reduce the density of seed bank in the bamboo patches, thus affect recruitmentof T. chinensis. Our results highlight the importance of understory seed removal in the plant recruitment in the patchy environment.