Persistence of the effect of frugivore identity on post‐dispersal seed fate: consequences for the assessment of functional redundancy

Lugon, Ana Paula; Boutefeu, Marion; Bovy, Emilie; Vaz‐de‐Mello, Fernando Z.; Huynen, Marie‐Claude; Galetti, Mauro; Culot, Laurence

doi:10.1111/btp.12418

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(102 reference statements)

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“…), seed burial (Lugon et al. ), and seed germination (Lawson et al. ) at rates higher than predicted for random extinction scenarios.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…For two of the scenarios, dung volume and mammal body mass, mammal extinction resulted in greater declines in individual dung beetle biomass than the random extinction scenarios. As the total biomass of dung beetles is closely related to dung removal (Nichols et al 2016), these extinction scenarios indicate the potential for the loss of the associated ecosystem functions provided by dung beetles, such as declines in seed dispersal (Culot et al 2015), seed burial (Lugon et al 2017), and seed germination (Lawson et al 2012) at rates higher than predicted for random extinction scenarios. As mammal body size is closely correlated with dung size (Blueweiss et al 1978), the extinction scenario based on mammal body size represents the community-level effect on the dung beetle population of loss of dung source by size.…”

Section: Consequences Of Mammal Species Extinctions For Dung Beetlesmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Extinctions of interactions: quantifying a dung beetle–mammal network

et al. 2018

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Loss of large‐bodied mammals across the globe through hunting, habitat degradation, and fragmentation is one of the most significant anthropogenic impacts on the environment. Cascading effects of these extinctions through ecosystems have been little studied, although correlative studies have revealed co‐extinctions in closely linked groups, with implications for ecosystem structure and function. Despite playing important roles in seed dispersal and hence seedling recruitment, mammals have been largely neglected in network studies. Similarly, the role of secondary seed dispersers, such as ants and dung beetles, has been largely unexplored. Most dung beetles rely on mammal feces for feeding and breeding and provide a suite of important ecosystem functions and services. While dung beetle community responses to environmental change have been widely investigated, studies quantifying the network of associations between dung beetle and mammal species are lacking. By developing the first quantitative mammal–dung beetle networks, we address several important knowledge gaps contributing to the understanding of how interactions in networks involving mammals and secondary insect seed dispersers are structured. We use the resulting quantitative interaction networks to model mammal species extinction scenarios to further explore the consequences for dung beetle populations, and the extent to which networks change the strength of interactions through resource switching. Dung beetle feeding and breeding networks did not differ significantly in structure and showed high nestedness and low levels of trophic specialization. Simulations suggested that mammal extinction scenarios based on mammal body mass and mammal dung volume will impact dung beetle populations to a greater extent than random scenarios of mammal loss. Thus, despite their generalist feeding preferences, realistic mammal extinction scenarios have the potential to negatively impact the dung beetle community, which may have consequences for ecosystem functioning.

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“…), seed burial (Lugon et al. ), and seed germination (Lawson et al. ) at rates higher than predicted for random extinction scenarios.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Consequences Of Mammal Species Extinctions For Dung Beetlesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Extinctions of interactions: quantifying a dung beetle–mammal network

et al. 2018

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“…Monitoring of reintroduction effects on dung beetles should be repeated in the future because secondary movement by dung beetles is crucial for the outcome of primary seed dispersal by howler monkeys (Lugon et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of howler monkey reintroduction on ecological interactions and processes

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Fernandez

Vaz‐de‐Mello

et al. 2018

Conservation Biology

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Rewilding has been an increasingly popular tool to restore plant-animal interactions and ecological processes impaired by defaunation. However, the reestablishment of such processes has seldom been assessed. We investigated the restoration of ecological interactions following the reintroduction of the brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba) to a defaunated Atlantic forest site. We expected the reintroduction to restore plant-animal interactions and interactions between howlers and dung beetles, which promote secondary seed dispersal. We estimated the number of interactions expected to be restored by the reintroduction to provide the baseline interaction richness that could be restored. We followed the reintroduced howler monkeys twice a week for 24 months (337 hours total) to assess their diet. We used howler monkey dung in secondary seed dispersal experiments with 2484 seed mimics to estimate the removal rates by dung beetles and collected the beetles to assess community attributes. We compared the potential future contribution of howler monkeys and other frugivores to seed dispersal based on the seed sizes they disperse in other areas where they occur. In 2 years, howler monkeys consumed 60 animal-dispersed plant species out of the 330 estimated. Twenty-one dung beetle species were attracted to experimentally provided dung; most of them were tunnelers, nocturnal, and large-sized (>10 mm). On average 30% (range 0-100%) of the large seed mimics (14 mm) were moved by dung beetles. About 91% of the species consumed by howlers (size range 0.3-34.3 mm) overlapped in seed size with those removed by dung beetles. In our study area, howler monkeys may consume more large-seeded fruit species than most other frugivores, highlighting their potential to affect forest regeneration. Our results show reintroductions may effectively restore ecological links and enhance ecological processes.

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“…Yet, the result remains somewhat surprising since the bonobo, the main representative of the primate community in Nkala and Minkalu, also provides dispersal services for large-seeded plants: few plants dispersed by the bonobo are also dispersed by hornbills (Trolliet et al 2016). We suggest that post-dispersal processes could have induced inconsistencies between the composition of the seed rain and that of the seedling community, and reduced the ultimate influence of the bonobo on the recruitment of large-seeded plants (Alcomb 2003, Carrière et al 2002, Lugon et al 2017.…”

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confidence: 87%

How complementary are large frugivores for tree seedling recruitment? A case study in the Congo Basin

et al. 2019

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Large frugivores provide critical seed dispersal services for many plant species and their extirpation from forested ecosystems can cause compositional shifts in regenerating plant cohorts. Yet, we still poorly understand whether large seed-dispersers have complementary or redundant roles for forest regeneration. Here, to assess the functional complementarity of large-bodied frugivores in forest regeneration, we quantified the effects of varying abundance of hornbills, primates and the forest elephant on the density, species richness and the mean weighted seed length of animal-dispersed tree species among seedlings in five sites in a forest–savanna mosaic in D. R. Congo, while accounting for percentage forest cover and the local presence of fruiting trees. We found that the abundance of primates was positively associated with species richness of seedlings, while percentage forest cover was negatively associated (R2 = 0.19). The abundance of hornbills, the presence of elephants and percentage forest cover were positively associated with mean seed length of the regenerating cohort (R2 = 0.13). Spatially explicit analysis indicated that some additional processes have an important influence on these response indices. Primates would seem to have a preponderant role for maintaining relatively high species richness, while hornbills and elephant would seem to be predominantly responsible for the recruitment of large-seeded trees. Our results could indicate that these taxa of frugivores play complementary functional roles for forest regeneration. This suggests that the extirpation of one or more of these dispersers would likely not be functionally compensated for by the remaining taxa, hence possibly cascading into compositional shifts.

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Persistence of the effect of frugivore identity on post‐dispersal seed fate: consequences for the assessment of functional redundancy

Cited by 20 publications

References 52 publications

Extinctions of interactions: quantifying a dung beetle–mammal network

Extinctions of interactions: quantifying a dung beetle–mammal network

Effects of howler monkey reintroduction on ecological interactions and processes

How complementary are large frugivores for tree seedling recruitment? A case study in the Congo Basin

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