Aims The use of exotic species as taxon substitutes to restore lost ecological interactions is currently hotly debated. Aldabrachelys gigantea giant tortoises have recently been introduced to three islands in the Mascarene archipelago (Ile aux Aigrettes, Round Island and Rodrigues) to resurrect herbivory and seed dispersal functions once performed by extinct giant tortoises. However, potential ...

Phylogenetic relationships within the dogwood genus Cornus have been highly controversial due to the great morphological heterogeneity. Earlier phylogenetic analyses of Cornus using chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) data (including rbcL and matK sequences, as well as restriction sites) and morphological characters suggested incongruent relationships within the genus. The present study generated sequence ...

economic and social changes in recent decades led to regional imbalance and inordinate concentration of facilities in some parts and bereavement of other parts. we need to district and regional planning which its objective is providing an appropriate model for balanced distribution of services according to population of settlements or spatial balance in the region. the topics of sustainable dev...

Seed dispersal by frugivores plays a key role in structuring and maintaining tree diversity forests. However, little is known about how the spatial legacy of seed early recruitment shapes patterns interaction network plant species mature forest communities. We analysed two fully mapped mixed Pine–Oak communities using point pattern analysis to determine (a) detailed structure intraspecific sapl...

Fruit-eating animals play a key role in spreading non-native environmental weeds, via seed ingestion and subsequent dispersal. We reviewed available information on dispersal of fleshy-fruited environmental weeds in New Zealand. We found almost a third (32.9%) of 295 environmental weed species in New Zealand have fleshy fruits adapted for internal dispersal by animals. Fruiting phenology differs...