In this paper, an outline of the methods for measuring seed limitation, establishment limitation and their components are presented. These methods are applicable to any study that quantifies seed rain at an unbiased sample of locations in a community or explicitly measures the shapes of seed shadows. The usefulness of these methods were evaluated by using them in several species in tropical forest. The implications of observed seed and establishment limitation for tropical forest diversity and conservation are assessed.

In this study, the nature of interactions between primates and plant species in two species-rich neotropical forests (Urucu, Amazonas, Brazil, and Raleighvallen-Voltzberg Reserve, central Suriname) were compared. Seed dispersal in the two sites was predominantly animal-mediated. Over four-fifths of all woody plant species sampled at Urucu (81.0%, n=689) were zoochorous; this proportion was even higher at Voltzberg (86.7%, n=332). It was shown that large-bodied primates in species-rich neotropical forests can provide effective dispersal services for a wide range of endozoochorous, large-seeded plants that produce thick-husked, indehiscent fruits, which are rarely or never handled by other frugivores. Primate body size was directly related to the size spectrum of seeds ingested; small seeds were dispersed by all primate species, whereas large seeds were dispersed only by large species.

A study was conducted to compare wind dispersal of tree seeds in two distinct landscape structure: dense forests and trees scattered in an open landscape, using two mathematical models against extensive seed-trap data collected in an isolated stand of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) in Israel. Results showed that very dense forests produced very restricted seed shadows, with 99% of the seeds travelling less than 2.7 m. A significant difference between the distributions of dispersal distances were generated in the low landscape types - dispersal distances in dense forests were considerably shorter than in open landscapes.

Data are presented on a series of empirical studies conducted in western Amazonia tropical forests at a wide range of spatial scales (i.e., subcontinental, regional, subhectare and metre), which include patterns of species composition. The different theories on plant diversity which explain the variability of species diversity on the studied scales are discussed.

In this paper, an assessment of the relative importance of pre- and post-dispersal granivory on seed-dispersal mutualisms and an investigation on how the characteristics of seed shadows influence rates of seed predation, are presented. The consequences of seed predation on plant demography will be explored both in relation to different dispersal strategies and from the perspective that granivores may sometimes act as seed dispersal agents.