Genetic markers used in combination with network analysis can characterize the fine spatial pattern of seed dispersal and assess the differential contribution of dispersers. As a case study, we focus on the seed dispersal service provided by a small guild of frugivorous birds to the common yew, Taxus baccata L., in southern Spain. We build the spatial networks of seed dispersal events between t...

Pre-dispersal seed predation can greatly reduce crop size affecting recruitment success. In addition, non-fatal damage by seed predators may allow infection by fungi responsible for post-dispersal seed losses. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify pre-dispersal seed predation and fungal infection in a Neotropical tree species, Luehea seemannii, that produces dehiscent fruits and win...

Seed dispersal constitutes a pivotal process in an increasingly fragmented world, promoting population connectivity, colonization and range shifts in plants. Unveiling how multiple frugivore species disperse seeds through fragmented landscapes, operating as mobile links, has remained elusive owing to methodological constraints for monitoring seed dispersal events. We combine for the first time ...

seed bank is a central topic for plant community restoration. we determined the potential and regeneration capacity of soil seed banks of woody plant patches in conservation of the vegetation in an alpine habitat, since vegetation has completely disappeared in some sites by intensive grazing in the habitat. the study was done in mountainous area of alborz in iran. a total of 20 individual shrub...

Research on post-dispersal seed fates has expanded rapidly in the past 20 years. The finding that rodents worldwide scatterhoard many types of seeds and that such scatterhoarding is a second stage of dispersal for some plants has led to the realization that one cannot assume that seed removal is equivalent to seed predation (Forget et al., 1998; Jansen, 2003). Several studies indicate that seco...

Throughout Amazonia, overfishing has decimated populations of fruit-eating fishes, especially the large-bodied characid, Colossoma macropomum. During lengthy annual floods, frugivorous fishes enter vast Amazonian floodplains, consume massive quantities of fallen fruits and egest viable seeds. Many tree and liana species are clearly specialized for icthyochory, and seed dispersal by fish may be ...

The Neotropics have many plant species that seem to be adapted for seed dispersal by megafauna that went extinct in the late Pleistocene. Given the crucial importance of seed dispersal for plant persistence, it remains a mystery how these plants have survived more than 10,000 y without their mutualist dispersers. Here we present support for the hypothesis that secondary seed dispersal by scatte...

Animals and fruiting plants are involved in a complex set of interactions, with animals relying on fruiting trees as food resources, and fruiting trees relying on animals for seed dispersal. This interdependence shapes fruit signals such as colour and odour, to increase fruit detectability, and animal sensory systems, such as colour vision and olfaction to facilitate food identification and sel...

1. In plants, long-distance dispersal (LDD) is a widespread phenomenon of great importance, especially in spatial dynamics such as in metapopulations, invasions and migration. Much has become known about the mechanisms underlying LDD by wind, but selective release mechanisms have received little attention. Recent papers call for particular effort in clarification of the seed release stage of th...

The two factors that determine plant migration rates - seed dispersal and population growth - are generally treated independently, despite the fact that many animals simultaneously enhance plant migration rate via seed dispersal, and decrease it via negative effects of herbivory on population growth. Using extensive empirical data, we modelled the antagonistic effects of seed dispersal and herb...