scholarly journals Seed dispersal by changing frugivore assemblages: a mechanistic test of global change effects

Oikos ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 126 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Rodríguez-Pérez ◽  
Daniel García ◽  
Daniel Martínez ◽  
Juan Manuel Morales
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Frugivore Assemblages

scholarly journals Consequences of intraspecific variation in seed dispersal for plant demography, communities, evolution and global change

AoB Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca S Snell ◽  
Noelle G Beckman ◽  
Evan Fricke ◽  
Bette A Loiselle ◽  
Carolina S Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Plant Fitness ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Dynamics ◽  
The Mean

AbstractAs the single opportunity for plants to move, seed dispersal has an important impact on plant fitness, species distributions and patterns of biodiversity. However, models that predict dynamics such as risk of extinction, range shifts and biodiversity loss tend to rely on the mean value of parameters and rarely incorporate realistic dispersal mechanisms. By focusing on the mean population value, variation among individuals or variability caused by complex spatial and temporal dynamics is ignored. This calls for increased efforts to understand individual variation in dispersal and integrate it more explicitly into population and community models involving dispersal. However, the sources, magnitude and outcomes of intraspecific variation in dispersal are poorly characterized, limiting our understanding of the role of dispersal in mediating the dynamics of communities and their response to global change. In this manuscript, we synthesize recent research that examines the sources of individual variation in dispersal and emphasize its implications for plant fitness, populations and communities. We argue that this intraspecific variation in seed dispersal does not simply add noise to systems, but, in fact, alters dispersal processes and patterns with consequences for demography, communities, evolution and response to anthropogenic changes. We conclude with recommendations for moving this field of research forward.

scholarly journals Advancing an interdisciplinary framework to study seed dispersal ecology

AoB Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noelle G Beckman ◽  
Clare E Aslan ◽  
Haldre S Rogers ◽  
Oleg Kogan ◽  
Judith L Bronstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Population Persistence ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Although dispersal is generally viewed as a crucial determinant for the fitness of any organism, our understanding of its role in the persistence and spread of plant populations remains incomplete. Generalizing and predicting dispersal processes are challenging due to context dependence of seed dispersal, environmental heterogeneity and interdependent processes occurring over multiple spatial and temporal scales. Current population models often use simple phenomenological descriptions of dispersal processes, limiting their ability to examine the role of population persistence and spread, especially under global change. To move seed dispersal ecology forward, we need to evaluate the impact of any single seed dispersal event within the full spatial and temporal context of a plant’s life history and environmental variability that ultimately influences a population’s ability to persist and spread. In this perspective, we provide guidance on integrating empirical and theoretical approaches that account for the context dependency of seed dispersal to improve our ability to generalize and predict the consequences of dispersal, and its anthropogenic alteration, across systems. We synthesize suitable theoretical frameworks for this work and discuss concepts, approaches and available data from diverse subdisciplines to help operationalize concepts, highlight recent breakthroughs across research areas and discuss ongoing challenges and open questions. We address knowledge gaps in the movement ecology of seeds and the integration of dispersal and demography that could benefit from such a synthesis. With an interdisciplinary perspective, we will be able to better understand how global change will impact seed dispersal processes, and potential cascading effects on plant population persistence, spread and biodiversity.

scholarly journals Rapid changes in seed dispersal traits may modify plant responses to global change

AoB Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy S Johnson ◽  
Robert Stephen Cantrell ◽  
Chris Cosner ◽  
Florian Hartig ◽  
Alan Hastings ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Dispersal Traits

Global Change Impacts on Ant- Mediated Seed Dispersal in Eastern North American Forests

2017 ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Robert J. Warren ◽  
Joshua R. King ◽  
Lacy D. Chick ◽  
Mark A. Bradford
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
North American

scholarly journals To adapt or go extinct? The fate of megafaunal palm fruits under past global change

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1880) ◽  
pp. 20180882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renske E. Onstein ◽  
William J. Baker ◽  
Thomas L. P. Couvreur ◽  
Søren Faurby ◽  
Leonel Herrera-Alsina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
New World ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Fruit Size ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Old World ◽  
Sea Level Fluctuations ◽  
Quaternary Climate ◽  
Palm Fruits

Past global change may have forced animal-dispersed plants with megafaunal fruits to adapt or go extinct, but these processes have remained unexplored at broad spatio-temporal scales. Here, we combine phylogenetic, distributional and fruit size data for more than 2500 palm (Arecaceae) species in a time-slice diversification analysis to quantify how extinction and adaptation have changed over deep time. Our results indicate that extinction rates of palms with megafaunal fruits have increased in the New World since the onset of the Quaternary (2.6 million years ago). In contrast, Old World palms show a Quaternary increase in transition rates towards evolving small fruits from megafaunal fruits. We suggest that Quaternary climate oscillations and concurrent habitat fragmentation and defaunation of megafaunal frugivores in the New World have reduced seed dispersal distances and geographical ranges of palms with megafaunal fruits, resulting in their extinction. The increasing adaptation to smaller fruits in the Old World could reflect selection for seed dispersal by ocean-crossing frugivores (e.g. medium-sized birds and bats) to colonize Indo-Pacific islands against a background of Quaternary sea-level fluctuations. Our macro-evolutionary results suggest that megafaunal fruits are increasingly being lost from tropical ecosystems, either due to extinctions or by adapting to smaller fruit sizes.

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