Seed Dispersal Patterns by Large Frugivorous Mammals in a Degraded Mosaic Landscape

Abstract

Seed dispersal by Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Stone marten (Martes foina), and Wild boar (Sus scrofa) was analyzed in an extensively degraded mosaic landscape in Sierra Nevada (SE Spain). The main objective was to determine whether seed dispersal by mammals was related to habitat degradation within a mosaic of adjacent degraded patches mixed with native forest and thereby to determine the potential role of mammals as seed dispersers in degraded landscape units. For three consecutive years, mammal feces were collected in the fruit production period, extracting all seeds of woody species found therein and analyzing their viability. Feces were collected in three different plots for each of five different landscape units: shrubland, native forest, and dense, cleared, and fenced reforestation stands. Seeds from 16 woody species (which represent more than a half of the total fleshy-fruited woody species available) were recorded, although some agrarian species are also introduced in a low percentage of the scats. Seeds showed a high viability rate for all dispersed species, irrespective of the mammal disperser. No differences in species composition appeared in the overall landscape units or in the seed density between degraded habitats. Due to the small patch size, the high viability of dispersed seeds, and the large home range of the large mammals, these three animal species act as efficient seed dispersers for a diverse assemblage of woody plant species regardless of the habitat type within this degradation framework. This fact has important consequences for the biodiversity recuperation in these degraded habitats, principally in pine plantations

Positive adjacency effects mediated by seed disperser birds in pine plantations

“…When the seed rain data in pine plantations provided in this study for birds were compared with the corresponding data provided by mammals in pine plantation plots of the same study area (Matı´as et al 2010) the following major similarities and differences appeared: (1) Both birds and mammals dispersed seeds from a very similar sample of native species, mostly Rubus, Crataegus, and Rosa (although in different proportions for some species). (2) Whereas mammals are considered long-distance dispersers (Jordano et al 2007, Matı´as et al 2010, our dominant bird species proved to be mainly short-to medium-distance dispersers.…”

“…(2) Whereas mammals are considered long-distance dispersers (Jordano et al 2007, Matı´as et al 2010, our dominant bird species proved to be mainly short-to medium-distance dispersers. For this reason, birds did not disperse agricultural species from distant farmlands into plantations as mammals do (Matı´as et al 2010 …”

Structure and Regeneration Patterns of Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii Natural Forests: A Basic Knowledge for Adaptive Management in a Changing Climate

“…Siles et al [33] obtained similar results in their study on facilitation, and added Juniperus oxycedrus L. and Pistacia terebinthus L. to a list of species native to the study area that could be used as nurse shrubs. However, the probability that a pine forest is colonized by a new shrub species depends on the location and composition of nearby vegetation, and some sort of human intervention may be necessary [50,51]. Clearly, managers of Mediterranean forests will need to know as much about shrub ecology as they already know about the ecology of commercial tree species.…”

Diet and Fruit Choice of the Brown Palm Civet Paradoxurus Jerdoni, a Viverrid Endemic to the Western Ghats Rainforest, India

“…(c) Do physical characteristics of fruits influence choice by civets? As the proportion and diversity of fruits in the diet of small carnivores and their effectiveness as seed dispersers have implications for the maintenance of plant communities and restoration of degraded areas [24][25][26], the results of the study are used to assess the functional and conservation importance of brown palm civets in the Western Ghats as well as implications for the conservation of the species.…”