Questions What are the main features of the seed rain in a fragmented Atlantic forest landscape? Can seed rain species attributes (life form, dispersal mode, successional status) relate to the spatial arrangement (size and number of fragments, edge density and presence of corridor) of forest fragments in the landscape? How does the rain forest landscape structure affect the seed rain? Location Atlantic rainforest, São Paulo State, Southeastern Brazil. Methods Seed rain samples were collected monthly throughout 1 yr, counted, identified and classified according to species dispersal mode, successional status and life form. Seed rain composition was compared with woody species near the seed traps. Relationships between seed rain composition and landscape spatial arrangement (fragment area, presence of corridor, number of fragments in the surroundings, proximity of fragments, and edge density) were tested using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Results We collected 20 142 seeds belonging to 115 taxa, most of them early successional and anemochorous trees. In general, the seed rain had a species composition distinct from that of the nearby forest tree community. Small isolated fragments contained more seeds, mainly of anemochorous, epiphytic and early‐successional species; large fragments showed higher association with zoochorous and late‐successional species compared to small fragments. The CCA significantly distinguished the species dispersal mode according to fragment size and isolation, anemochorous species being associated to small and isolated fragments, and zoochorous species to larger areas and fragment aggregation. Nevertheless, a gradient driven by proximity (PROX) and edge density (ED) segregated lianas (in the positive extremity), early successional and epiphyte species (in the negative end); large fragments were positively associated to PROX and ED. Conclusions The results highlight the importance of the size and spatial arrangement of forest patches to promote habitat connectivity and improve the flux of animal‐dispersed seeds. Landscape structure controls seed fluxes and affects plant dispersal capacity, potentially influencing the composition and structure of forest fragments. The seed rain composition may be used to assess the effects of landscape spatial structure on plant assemblages, and provide relevant information for biodiversity conservation.

A composição da chuva de sementes permite inferir sobre o desenvolvimento, o direcionamento sucessional e a regeneração de comunidades vegetais. Em paisagens fragmentadas, é grandemente influenciada pela conectividade entre fragmentos remanescentes e pela estrutura da vegetação. Foram comparadas as chuvas de sementes em três fragmentos de Mata Atlântica (Caucaia do Alto, SP), em função de seus tamanhos, graus de conectividade na paisagem, situação de borda e interior, grau de perturbação e características estruturais da vegetação, para verificar a influência desses parâmetros nas respectivas chuvas de sementes. As sementes foram classificadas conforme síndrome de dispersão primária, hábito e tipo funcional das espécies. Foi testada a possível influência da borda sobre esses atributos (qui-quadrado). Padrões entre características dos fragmentos (tamanho, conexão), posição dos coletores (borda, interior) e a abundância dos diferentes diásporos foram explorados por análise de correspondência destendencionada (DCA) e análise de correlação de Spearman. Das 28.873 sementes coletadas, a maioria foi de espécies arbóreas (80,7%) e zoocóricas (73,7%). No fragmento "pequeno/isolado" houve predominância de espécies arbóreas tardias. O fragmento "pequeno/conectado" mostrou características opostas às do isolado. O fragmento "grande/fonte", com a maior diversidade, mostrou uma situação bem definida de borda e interior. Com base nesses parâmetros, os padrões encontrados sugerem uma melhor qualidade ecológica do fragmento "pequeno/isolado", seguido do "grande/fonte" e, finalmente, do "pequeno/conectado". Houve uma oposição entre os efeitos de conectividade e estrutura da vegetação, tendo esta sido mais importante na determinação dos padrões encontrados quanto ao hábito, tipo funcional e síndrome de dispersão das espécies das chuvas de sementes do que a conectividade da paisagem.

Local habitat disturbance increases bird nest predation in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. We evaluated the effect of anthropogenic disturbance on nest predation in Brazilian Atlantic forest. Artificial nests were distributed in fragments with distinct degrees of anthropogenic disturbance. We found a higher proportion of egg predation on the ground and in the fragments classified as 'high' and 'medium' disturbance than in the fragments classified as 'low' degree of disturbance. The higher egg predation is probably linked to low structural complexity of vegetation and high accessibility of these areas to opportunistic predators. We suggest that forest fragments with high vegetation complexity and low human activity should be preserved in order to maintain the biodiversity of bird species.