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22 results for “animal seed dispersal”
Data from: Forest degradation limits the complementarity and quality of animal seed dispersal
<p><span>Forest degradation changes the structural heterogeneity of forests and species communities, with potential consequences for ecosystem functions including seed dispersal by frugivorous animals. While the quantity of seed dispersal may be robust towards forest degradation, changes in the effectiveness of seed dispersal through qualitative changes are poorly understood. Here, we carried out extensive field sampling on the structure of forest microhabitats, seed deposition sites, and plant recruitment along three characteristics of forest microhabitats (canopy cover, ground vegetation, deadwood) in Europe's last lowland primeval forest (Białowieża, Poland). We then applied niche modelling to study forest degradation effects on multi-dimensional seed deposition by frugivores and recruitment of fleshy-fruited plants. Forest degradation was shown to (1) reduce the niche volume of forest microhabitat characteristics by half, (2) homogenize the spatial seed deposition within and among frugivore species, and (3) limit the regeneration of plants via changes in seed deposition and recruitment. Our study shows that the loss of frugivores in degraded forests is accompanied by a reduction in the complementarity and quality of seed dispersal by remaining frugivores. In contrast, structure-rich habitats, such as old-growth forests, safeguard the diversity of species interactions, forming the basis for high-quality ecosystem functions.</span></p>
Fig.1. Bipartite graph depicting a plant-animal mutualistic network involving 10 in The Role Of Macaca Spp. (Primates: Cercopithecidae) In Seed Dispersal Networks
Fig.1. Bipartite graph depicting a plant-animal mutualistic network involving 10 frugivores (left) and 170 of the plant species (right) they disperse at Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. The list of plant species is based on Kitamura et al. (2002), then the list of frugivores dispersing each species has been completed thanks to data from bin Kassim (1987), Kitamura et al. (2005), Datta & Rawat (2008), Brockelman (2009), McConkey & Brockelman (2011), Albert et al. (2013), Ngoprasert (2012), Khamcha (pers. comm.), Latinne (pers. comm.), Martmoon (pers. comm.).
Data from: Forest degradation limits the complementarity and quality of animal seed dispersal
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The ability to disperse large seeds, rather than body mass alone, defines the importance of animals in a hyper-diverse seed dispersal network
<p>1. Large-bodied animals play irreplaceable roles in seed dispersal, partly due to their capacity to disperse large seeds. Understanding this role at a community level has been limited by the paucity of network studies that include large vertebrates, and the almost complete absence of studies including synzoochoric dispersers. Synzoochoric dispersers can disperse seeds disproportionately large for their body size, potentially overlapping the roles of large-bodied animals. A comprehensive network, inclusive of large vertebrates and synzoochorous dispersers, is imperative to understand seed dispersal at a community level.</p> <p>2. Here, we analysed the seed dispersal network of a hyper-diverse Sundaic forest in Malaysia using local ecological knowledge and including multiple forms of endozoochorous and synzoochorous dispersal. We evaluated the extent to which three disperser traits: body mass, seed-handling ability (size of the largest seed dispersed), and diet explained the importance of animals in the network. We evaluated dispersers' relative importance using four network metrics — degree of specialisation (nested rank), species strength, within-module connectivity (z-value), and between-modules connectivity (c-value).</p> <p>3. We found that seed-handling ability had the biggest effect on a disperser's importance, with strong effects on three network metrics (species strength, ecological specialization, z-value) and moderate effects on connectivity between modules. Body mass was important in defining interactions within modules, and dietary differences defined the ecological specialisation of species in seed dispersal.</p> <p>4. Important dispersers in our network were large-seed dispersers (e.g., rats, gibbons), large-bodied animals, in particular the Asian elephant, and animals with frugivorous diets such as hornbills.</p> <p>5. Synthesis. Our work uncovers the significance of seed-handling ability in identifying pivotal seed dispersal roles in tropical rainforests. Key dispersers include large-bodied herbivores and medium-sized frugivores that could disperse large seeds by endozoochory, and smaller rodents that dispersed similar-sized seeds by synzoochory. Many of the species that emerged as particularly important for the seed dispersal network are currently threatened (e.g., the Asian elephant, gibbons, and hornbills). Their protection or reintroduction should be a top conservation priority. </p>
Changes in the structure of seed dispersal networks when including interaction outcomes from both plant and animal perspectives
<p>Interaction frequency is the most common currency in quantitative ecological networks, although interaction quality can also affect benefits provided by mutualisms. Here, we evaluate if interaction quality can modify network topology, species' role and whether such changes affect community vulnerability to species loss. We use a well-examined study system (bird-lizard and fleshy-fruited plants in the 'thermophilous' woodland of the Canary Islands) to compare network and species-level metrics from a network based on fruit consumption rates (Interaction Frequency, IF), against networks reflecting functional outcomes: a Seed Dispersal Effectiveness network (SDE) quantifying recruitment, and a Fruit Resource Provisioning network (FRP), accounting for the nutrient supply of fruits. Nestedness decreased in the FRP and the SDE networks, due to the lack of association between fruit consumption rates and (1) nutrient content, and (2) recruitment at the seed deposition sites, respectively. The FRP network showed lower niche overlap due to resource use complementarity among frugivores. Interaction evenness was lower in the SDE network, in response to a higher dominance of lizards in the recruitment of heliophilous species. Such changes, however, did not result in enhanced vulnerability against extinctions. At the plant species level, strength changed in the FRP network in frequently consumed or highly nutritious species. The number of effective partners decreased for species whose seeds were deposited in unsuitable places for recruitment. In frugivores, strength was consistent across networks (SDE vs IF), showing that consumption rates outweighed differences in dispersal quality. In the case of lizards, the increased importance of nutrient-rich species resulted in a higher number of effective partners.</p> <p>Our work shows that although frequency strongly impacts interaction effects, accounting for quality improves our inferences about interaction assembly and species role. Thus, future studies including interaction outcomes from both partners' perspectives will provide valuable insights about the net effects of mutualistic interactions.</p>
The ability to disperse large seeds, rather than body mass alone, defines the importance of animals in a hyper-diverse seed dispersal network
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How spatiotemporal cognition and movement of seed-dispersing animals influence plant distribution
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Greater landscape-scale forest cover and animal-mediated seed dispersal syndromes associate with faster recovery rates in restoring tropical Andean forests
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Changes in the structure of seed dispersal networks when including interaction outcomes from both plant and animal perspectives
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Data from: Angiosperm fleshy fruits and seed dispersers: a comparative analysis of adaptation and constraints in plant-animal interactions
Variation in phenotypic traits of angiosperm fleshy fruits has been explained as the result of adaptations to their mutualistic seed dispersers. By analyzing the information available on fleshy fruit characteristics of 910 angiosperm species, I assess the hypothesis of evolutionary association between fruit phenotypic traits and type of seed disperser (birds, mammals, and mixed dispersers) and address explicitly and quantitatively alternative null hypotheses about phylogenetic effects. Phylogenetic affinity among plant taxa is accounted for by comparative methods including nested ANOVA, phylogenetic autocorrelation, and independent contrasts. Averaging over the 16 fruit traits examined, phylogenetic effects down to genus level explain 61% of total variance. Phylogenetic autocorrelations are strong among close relatives, reaching significance for 11 of the 16 fruit traits examined. When assessed by independent contrast methods, correlated evolution between type of disperser and fruit traits is confined to fruit diameter. Differences among dispersal syndromes in other traits vanish after accounting for phylogenetic effects. These analyses reveal that seed dispersal syndromes are not entirely interpretable as current adaptations to seed dispersers. Their status as exaptations can be assessed by combining experimental studies of natural selection on fruit size and rigorous comparative and cladistic tests of adaptational hypotheses.
Data from: Loss of animal seed dispersal increases extinction risk in a tropical tree species due to pervasive negative density dependence across life stages
Overhunting in tropical forests reduces populations of vertebrate seed dispersers. If reduced seed dispersal has a negative impact on tree population viability, overhunting could lead to altered forest structure and dynamics, including decreased biodiversity. However, empirical data showing decreased animal-dispersed tree abundance in overhunted forests contradict demographic models which predict minimal sensitivity of tree population growth rate to early life stages. One resolution to this discrepancy is that seed dispersal determines spatial aggregation, which could have demographic consequences for all life stages. We tested the impact of dispersal loss on population viability of a tropical tree species, Miliusa horsfieldii, currently dispersed by an intact community of large mammals in a Thai forest. We evaluated the effect of spatial aggregation for all tree life stages, from seeds to adult trees, and constructed simulation models to compare population viability with and without animal-mediated seed dispersal. In simulated populations, disperser loss increased spatial aggregation by fourfold, leading to increased negative density dependence across the life cycle and a 10-fold increase in the probability of extinction. Given that the majority of tree species in tropical forests are animal-dispersed, overhunting will potentially result in forests that are fundamentally different from those existing now.
Importance of intraspecific variation in the pollination and seed dispersal functions of a double mutualist animal species
Although most plants depend on different animals for pollination and seed dispersal, sometimes the same animal species provides both functions, being thus involved in what has been termed a 'double mutualism'. Very little is known on the effectiveness of such species as both pollinators and seed dispersers, and even less on the intraspecific level differences at the contribution of an animal mutualist to plant fitness. In this study, we focused on the interaction between a Mediterranean shrub <i>Cneorum tricoccon</i> L. (Rutaceae) and the Balearic lizard <i>Podarcis lilfordi</i> L. (Lacertidae) in order to assess: (1) the role of this lizard as a legitimate pollinator of the plant (previously thought to be exclusively insect-pollinated), and (2) the intraspecific variation in the use of flowers and fruits by lizard individuals, comparing males, females and juveniles. We further evaluated whether lizards show different fruit size selection depending on sex and age, with potential consequences for seed germination. Lizards visited more flowers and selected more hermaphrodite flowers than insects did, leading to relative increases in both fruit and seed set. Interestingly, female and juvenile lizards were the main flower visitors, whereas males were the main fruit consumers. Males selected the largest fruits (bearing the largest seeds) though this did not increase seed germination, which was only ca. 15%. We concluded that <i>P. lilfordi</i> acts as a legitimate pollinator of <i>C. tricoccon</i> and, thus, confirm that this system constitutes a new case of double mutualism, especially common in island compared to mainland systems. Moreover, our findings show a large variation among conspecific individuals in their role as either pollinators or seed dispersers, with potential implications for plant reproductive success. Our study, therefore, highlights the importance of evaluating plant-animal interactions at the intraspecific level, and calls for more in-depth studies on the consequences of such intraspecific variation.
Distribution of 8 species of large-seeded pines and their primary animal seed-dispersers in China: match or mismatch?
<p class="1"><span><b>Aim: </b>The geographic distribution of plants influenced by seed dispersal, but this influence on plants that use animals as seed dispersers is often overlooked. Here, we took large-seeded pines and primary seed dispersers as examples to explore the effects of existing or potential seed dispersal on the distribution of plants based on the geographical distribution of the two trophic species, it required understanding of (a) the distribution range and distribution characteristics of each species, and (b) the overlapping of distribution areas of animals and plants to explore whether they match.</span></p> <p class="1"><span><b>Location: </b>China</span></p> <p class="1"><span><b>Methods:</b> To find the target species, we identified eight large-seeded pine species in China in terms of seed size and wing traits as well as four primary seed disperser species in terms of body size, seed-diet, food hoarding behavior and frequencies in existing studies. Then, we obtained species distribution information from books and literature and used ArcGIS for mapping. Finally, we analyzed the distribution relationship by overlapping the distribution areas and patterns comprehensively. </span></p> <p class="1"><span><b>Results: </b>We identified eight species of large-seeded pines (<i>Pinus fenzeliana</i>,<i> P. gerardiana</i>,<i> P. dabeshanensis</i>,<i> P. koraiensis</i>,<i> P. pumila, P. bungeana, P. armandii</i>, and<i> P. sibirica</i>) and four species of primary seed dispersers (<i>Nucifraga caryocatactes</i>,<i> Sciurus vulgaris</i>,<i> Tamias sibiricus</i>, and<i> Sciurotamias davidianus</i>). These eight species of large-seeded pines interlaced from the Northeast to the Southwest of China along the mountains with an average altitude of 1000-2000 m, while each species of primary seed disperser had a wide distribution range that overlapped completely or partially with that of four or more species of the large-seeded pines. Not only that, our findings provided potential seed dispersers for pines that lack sufficient research on seed dispersal.</span></p> <p class="1"><span><b>Main conclusions:</b> The distribution pattern of large-seeded pines and the primary seed dispersers was matched, we believed that reciprocal relationship promotes this distribution pattern. Our study highlights the importance of incorporating the ecological consequences of geographical distribution into reciprocal interactions between species and biodiversity conservation.</span></p>
Importance of intraspecific variation in the pollination and seed dispersal functions of a double mutualist animal species
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Data from: Use of alpha, beta, and gamma diversity measures to characterize seed dispersal by animals
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Cones structure and seed traits of four species of large-seeded pines: adaptation to animal-mediated dispersal
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Data from: Post-dispersal seed recovery by animals: is it a plant- or an animal-driven process?
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Data from: Seed dispersal by dispersing juvenile animals: a source of functional connectivity in fragmented landscapes
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Data from: Angiosperm fleshy fruits and seed dispersers: a comparative analysis of adaptation and constraints in plant-animal interactions
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Distribution of 8 species of large-seeded pines and their primary animal seed-dispersers in China: match or mismatch?
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