TY - JOUR
T1 - Frugivory and seed dispersal revisited
T2 - Codifying the plant-centred net benefit of animal-mediated interactions
AU - Spennemann, Dirk HR
PY - 2020/2
Y1 - 2020/2
N2 - Many plants rely on fruit consuming animals (frugivores) to disperse their seed. Successful dispersal is influenced inter alia by quantity of seeds dispersed, dispersal distance, nature of seed deposition and post-depositional seed predation. The germination potential of the seed is commonly enhanced through physical or chemical scarification while the ingested fruit is processed in the gastrointestinal tract. Most discussions of animal-mediated seed dispersal are vector-centric and explore in depth the minutiae or the consumption by species or examine mutualistic networks. This paper provides a framework that conceptualises the effect of animal-mediated seed dispersal in terms of net benefits to the plant. These benefits, viewed in terms of a dispersed plant's presence in the landscape, are codified as suisubstitution (new term), intensification, expansion, and colonisation. Only vectors with an ability to traverse and utilise multiple ecological landscapes provide true net colonisation benefits to a plant species. This is particularly essential in this later period of the Anthropocene where ecological landscapes have become increasingly fragmented and are being augmented or replaced by novel ecosystems.
AB - Many plants rely on fruit consuming animals (frugivores) to disperse their seed. Successful dispersal is influenced inter alia by quantity of seeds dispersed, dispersal distance, nature of seed deposition and post-depositional seed predation. The germination potential of the seed is commonly enhanced through physical or chemical scarification while the ingested fruit is processed in the gastrointestinal tract. Most discussions of animal-mediated seed dispersal are vector-centric and explore in depth the minutiae or the consumption by species or examine mutualistic networks. This paper provides a framework that conceptualises the effect of animal-mediated seed dispersal in terms of net benefits to the plant. These benefits, viewed in terms of a dispersed plant's presence in the landscape, are codified as suisubstitution (new term), intensification, expansion, and colonisation. Only vectors with an ability to traverse and utilise multiple ecological landscapes provide true net colonisation benefits to a plant species. This is particularly essential in this later period of the Anthropocene where ecological landscapes have become increasingly fragmented and are being augmented or replaced by novel ecosystems.
KW - Colonisation
KW - Landscape ecology
KW - Novel ecosystems
KW - Seed dispersal
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077378346&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85077378346&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.flora.2019.151534
DO - 10.1016/j.flora.2019.151534
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077378346
VL - 263
SP - 1
EP - 5
JO - Flora: Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants
JF - Flora: Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants
SN - 0367-2530
M1 - 151534
ER -