Seed‐dispersal interactions in fragmented landscapes – a metanetwork approach

Emer, Carine; Galetti, Mauro; Pizo, Marco Aurélio; Guimarães, Paulo R.; Moraes, Suelen; Piratelli, Augusto João; Jordano, Pedro

doi:10.1111/ele.12909

Cited by 136 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 85 publications

(230 reference statements)

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“…This may be explained by the dominant role of small birds (e.g., tyrant flycatchers and mockingbirds, see Carlo & Morales, ) in dispersing seeds. Thus, our findings might be explained in part by trait matching between small‐bodied birds and small‐seeded fruits that are common in fragmented tropical landscapes (Emer et al, ). In fact, other studies have reported how the general positive relationship between seed mass and seedling emergence can sometimes be offset by higher dispersal rates of small‐seeded species (Moles & Westoby, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, plant species that produce fruits for long time periods may have greater opportunities for interacting with frugivores and be thus dispersed more frequently than species with shorter fruiting periods (González‐Castro et al, ). Seed mass also influences the number of seeds that are ingested and dispersed by frugivores and the seed per capita establishment rates, with more seeds being dispersed from the small‐seeded species (Emer et al, ), while large‐seeded species experience higher per capita establishment (Foster & Janson, ). Thus, plant community structure is influenced in part by how plant species traits affect frugivory, seed dispersal and emergence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How does avian seed dispersal shape the structure of early successional tropical forests?

2018

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Frugivores shape plant communities via seed dispersal of fleshy‐fruited plant species. However, the structural characteristics that frugivores impart to plant communities are little understood. Evaluating how frugivores structure plant communities via the nonproportional use of available fruit resources is critical to understand the functioning of ecosystems where fleshy‐fruited plant species are dominant, such as tropical forests. We performed a seed‐addition field experiment to investigate how frugivorous birds shape the composition and richness of forests during early stages of secondary succession in cleared areas in Puerto Rico. The experiment tested whether the bird‐generated seed rain and the subsequent early successional plant communities were proportional representations of the fleshy‐fruited species that dominated the surrounding community. Experimental treatments consisted of patches with (a) seed‐additions by wild birds attracted to experimental patches with pole perches, (b) manual seed‐additions proportional to fruit abundance at the local scale (≤50 m from experimental plots) and (c) manual seed‐additions proportional to fruit abundance at the landscape scale (entire study site). Birds' seed‐additions differed in composition and abundance to expectations based on fruit availability at local and landscape scales. Treatments with seeds added by birds had the highest species richness in both the seed rain and the emergence stages despite how, on average, the monthly richness in the landscape‐scale treatment was double that of birds and the local‐scale treatment. This phenomenon was explained by the highest heterogeneity from the bird seed‐addition treatment across months, and the lowest seed per capita emergence rates in landscape treatments. Rather than reflecting relative fruit abundance, birds biased seed rain and per capita emergence towards a non‐random mixture of both small‐ and large‐seeded species, resulting in richer and distinct plant communities. Because frugivory and seed dispersal patterns depart from random encounters between frugivores and plants in communities, successional forests are characterized by an overrepresentation of proportionally rare plant species, and decreases in the dominance of many common species. Thus, for regenerating tropical forests, frugivory can function as mechanism that promotes persistence of rare plant species and their coexistence with more abundant plants. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13250/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does avian seed dispersal shape the structure of early successional tropical forests?

2018

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“…Considered under the network paradigm, extinctions can lead to extinction cascades (Emer et al 2018), decreases in community stability (Spiesman and Inouye 2013) and even network collapse (Jiang et al 2018). Although the importance of accounting for secondary extinctions is firmly recognized (Brodie et al 2009, Colwell et al 2012, the contribution of cascading effects to the payment of extinction debts remains the least explored component of extinction debts.…”

Section: ) the Disjunctive Loss Of Interacting Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding extinction debts: spatio–temporal scales, mechanisms and a roadmap for future research

et al. 2019

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Extinction debt refers to delayed species extinctions expected as a consequence of ecosystem perturbation. Quantifying such extinctions and investigating long-term consequences of perturbations has proven challenging, because perturbations are not isolated and occur across various spatial and temporal scales, from local habitat losses to global warming. Additionally, the relative importance of eco-evolutionary processes varies across scales, because levels of ecological organization, i.e. individuals, (meta) populations and (meta)communities, respond hierarchically to perturbations. To summarize our current knowledge of the scales and mechanisms influencing extinction debts, we reviewed recent empirical, theoretical and methodological studies addressing either the spatio-temporal scales of extinction debts or the eco-evolutionary mechanisms delaying extinctions. Extinction debts were detected across a range of ecosystems and taxonomic groups, with estimates ranging from 9 to 90% of current species richness. The duration over which debts have been sustained varies from 5 to 570 yr, and projections of the total period required to settle a debt can extend to 1000 yr. Reported causes of delayed extinctions are 1) life-history traits that prolong individual survival, and 2) population and metapopulation dynamics that maintain populations under deteriorated conditions. Other potential factors that may extend survival time such as microevolutionary dynamics, or delayed extinctions of interaction partners, have rarely been analyzed. Therefore, we propose a roadmap for future research with three key avenues: 1) the microevolutionary dynamics of extinction processes, 2) the disjunctive loss of interacting species and 3) the impact of multiple regimes of perturbation on the payment of debts. For their ability to integrate processes occurring at different levels of ecological organization, we highlight mechanistic simulation models as tools to address these knowledge gaps and to deepen our understanding of extinction dynamics.The extinctions that comprise an extinction debt can be expected based on the assumption of a new equilibrium to be achieved. This new equilibrium is also a community state that depends on how much the perturbation changes environmental conditions and community properties. The changes in species richness will then emerge from the interactions of eco-evolutionary processes over time at multiple levels of ecological organization (Cabral et al. 2017(Cabral et al. , 2019. This reasoning emphasizes extinction debt as a community (or metacommunity) state. Therefore, we further refer to mechanisms of extinction debt as eco-evolutionary processes creating or prolonging this state, i.e. delaying extinctions and thus putting and maintaining the community into debt.Being a state, an extinction debt has to be first and foremost, detected. Once detected, it can be characterized (Fig. 1). The extinction debt itself is the number of extinctions expected to happen as consequence of a perturbation, therefore, the main m...

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“…Apart from these direct effects, habitat fragmentation can also influence biodiversity patterns through indirect effects. For example, loss of large‐bodied seed dispersers in fragmented forests has been shown to reduce the efficiency of seed dispersal (Cramer, Mesquita, & Williamson, ; Emer et al , ), which in turn has significant influences on plant communities (Liu et al , ). However, we found no specific studies on this topic in China, and this represents an important knowledge gap that deserves further research.…”

Section: Impacts Of Forest Fragmentation On Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest fragmentation in China and its effect on biodiversity

et al. 2019

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Land‐use change is fragmenting natural ecosystems, with major consequences for biodiversity. This paper reviews fragmentation trends – historical and current – in China, the fourth largest country on Earth, and explores its consequences. Remote sensing makes it possible to track land‐use change at a global scale and monitor fragmentation of dwindling natural landscapes. Yet few studies have linked fragmentation mapped remotely with impacts on biodiversity within human‐modified landscapes. Recent reforestation programs have caused substantial increases in forest cover but have not stopped fragmentation, because the new forests are mostly monocultures that further fragment China's remnant old‐growth lowland forests that harbour the highest levels of biodiversity. Fragmentation – and associated biodiversity declines – is unevenly distributed in China's forests, being most problematic where agricultural expansion is occurring in the southwest and northeast, serious in the densely populated eastern regions where urbanisation and transport infrastructure are modifying landscapes, but less of a problem in other regions. Analyses of temporal trends show that the drivers of forest fragmentation are shifting from mainly agricultural expansion to urbanisation and infrastructure development. Most of China's old‐growth forests persist in small, isolated fragments from which many native species have disappeared, on land unsuitable for human utilisation. Fragmentation throughout China is likely to have major consequences on biodiversity conservation, but few studies have considered these large‐scale processes at the national level. Our review fills this research gap and puts forward a systematic perspective relevant to China and beyond.

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Seed‐dispersal interactions in fragmented landscapes – a metanetwork approach

Cited by 136 publications

References 85 publications

How does avian seed dispersal shape the structure of early successional tropical forests?

How does avian seed dispersal shape the structure of early successional tropical forests?

Understanding extinction debts: spatio–temporal scales, mechanisms and a roadmap for future research

Forest fragmentation in China and its effect on biodiversity

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