Article
Ecology
Ana L. Peralta, Adrian Escudero, Marcelino de la Cruz, Ana M. Sanchez, Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga
Summary: This study finds that key functional traits influence the spatial patterns of individual species in annual, gypsophilous plant communities, and these effects are influenced by soil surface structure and climate conditions. Seedling populations exhibit clustered spatial patterns that persist in the adult stage, indicating that short-distance dispersal is an adaptive trait for soil specialists. The functional strategies of species are connected to the spatial distribution of plants, with certain traits being associated with clustered or random patterns.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Juan Carlos Lopez-Almansa
Summary: This paper investigates the ecological factors affecting seed germination and early seedling establishment in Ulmus minor. The results suggest that factors such as light, water availability, soil cover, and substrate type play significant roles in the sexual regeneration of U. minor.
Article
Forestry
Yonghong Luo, Jinfeng Zhang, Xingfu Yan, Min Zhang, Shuhua Wei, Hui Yang, Yan Shen, Jinbao Zhang, Jiming Cheng
Summary: The establishment of seedlings is crucial for plant regeneration, but vulnerable to various factors. This study examined the effects of different degrees of cotyledon loss on the growth of seedlings germinating from different seed sizes. The results showed that large-seeded seedlings exhibited better growth characteristics compared to small-seeded seedlings, and slight cotyledon excision had no effect on the growth of large-seeded seedlings but significantly reduced the biomass of small-seeded seedlings. These findings suggest that large-seeded seedlings have a stronger adaptation for early seedling recruitment.
Review
Ecology
Haldre S. Rogers, Isabel Donoso, Anna Traveset, Evan C. Fricke
Summary: Seed dispersal is crucial for the persistence and spread of plant populations, as most plant species rely on animals to disperse their seeds. Loss of dispersers can lead to changes in plant populations, community patterns, and ecosystem functioning.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS, VOL 52, 2021
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Dillon T. Fogarty, Robert B. Peterson, Dirac Twidwell
Summary: This study develops a recruitment curve to describe the scatter of woody plant recruitment around seed sources and examines how this structures spatial patterns of encroachment.
Article
Plant Sciences
Barbara Seget, Michal Bogdziewicz, Jan Holeksa, Mateusz Ledwon, Lukasz Piechnik, Fiona Milne-Rostkowska, Katarzyna Kondrat, Magdalena Zywiec
Summary: This study investigates the relationship between fruit production and seedling recruitment in rowan trees, and finds that high fruit production increases the proportion of fruits recruiting into seedlings both near and far from rowans. This finding provides support for both animal dispersal and predator satiation hypotheses, suggesting that both mechanisms can operate simultaneously.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Hui Yao, Yanpei Bai, Yuan Chen, Haochun Chen, Wanji Yang, Xiangdong Ruan, Zuofu Xiang
Summary: Research suggests that colobine monkeys mainly disperse small seeds through potential endozoochory, especially seeds from multi-seeded fruits, which enhances plant recruitment by promoting seedling growth.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Antonio J. Perea, Thorsten Wiegand, Jose L. Garrido, Pedro J. Rey, Julio M. Alcantara
Summary: This study highlights the importance of seed dispersal by frugivores in shaping plant communities in Mediterranean forests. Spatial patterns across different life stages are driven by seed dispersal mechanisms and spatial self-thinning, with little evidence of negative interactions. This research suggests that combining spatial point pattern analysis with network analysis and species traits is a promising approach to understanding the processes underlying local diversity patterns.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Yonghong Luo, Jiming Cheng, Xingfu Yan, Hui Yang, Yan Shen, Jingru Ge, Min Zhang, Jinfeng Zhang, Zhuwen Xu
Summary: This study investigated the effects of community habitats on the predation and dispersal of Quercus wutaishanica seeds by rodents. The results showed that litter cover and soil burial significantly increased seed survival, and high seed density increased predation by rodents.
Article
Ecology
Matthew A. Kaproth, Maarten B. Eppinga, Jane Molofsky
Summary: Seed dispersal is crucial for plant populations to survive and spread, but stress can affect plant architecture and fecundity, compromising dispersal. Trait variation within species in response to the environment is not well understood, especially regarding the trade-offs between dispersal and competitive ability.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Peter Jeffrey Williams, Robert C. Ong, Jedediah F. Brodie, Matthew Scott Luskin
Summary: The field experiment in Borneo showed that the removal of large seed consumers can be functionally compensated by insects and fungi, maintaining seed survival and seedling establishment. The loss of seeds in defaunated systems does not affect seedling establishment.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Fei Yu, Linjun Zhang, Yang Wang, Xianfeng Yi, Shuang Zhang, Jianmin Ma, Zimei Dong, Guangwen Chen, Keming Ma
Summary: Research has shown that small rodents in mountainous environments play a significant role in the dispersal of plant species. This study examined the composition and abundance of seed dispersers, seed dispersal, seed bank abundance, and seedling recruitment for Quercus wutaishanica along different elevations in the Taihang Mountains, China. The results revealed complex patterns of asymmetric seed dispersal and seedling regeneration along the elevational gradient, with higher abundance of rodents and seed removal rates at lower elevations. Interestingly, the number of individual seeds in the seed bank and seedlings increased with elevation, even in the absence of rodents. These findings suggest that rodents may act as antagonistic seed predators rather than mutualistic seed dispersers at lower and middle elevations, which has implications for community assembly and ecosystem functions on a large spatial scale.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Alpo Kapuka, Tomas Hlasny
Summary: Research demonstrates that endozoochory facilitates repeated bilberry seedling recruitment in nature, indicating the importance of frugivores' behaviors for the reproduction of clonal plants. Behaviors such as defecation by bears near their resting sites may be crucial for the adaptation of clonal plants to changing climatic conditions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Si-Chong Chen, Xiao-Wen Hu, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin
Summary: This study demonstrates that there is no trade-off between seed persistence and seedling emergence from the soil seed bank. Physically dormant seeds are more persistent but exhibit lower emergence. Monocarpic species have both higher persistence and emergence than polycarpic species. Seed mass has a marginal effect on persistence, while emergence increases nearly twofold from the smallest to the largest seeds.
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Galina Smolikova, Sergei Medvedev
Summary: The transition from seed to seedling is a crucial stage in the life cycle of plants, involving tissue hydration, mobilization of nutrients, and activation of metabolic activity in seeds. This process requires extensive reprogramming of genetic, epigenetic, and hormonal switches, leading to the activation of vegetative growth genes and silencing of seed maturation genes.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Anna Binczik, Paula Roig-Boixeda, Eckhard W. Heymann, Matthias Waltert
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eckhard W. Heymann, Laurence Culot, Christoph Knogge, Andrew C. Smith, Emerita R. Tirado Herrera, Britta Mueller, Mojca Stojan-Dolar, Yvan Lledo Ferrer, Petra Kubisch, Denis Kupsch, Darja Slana, Mareike Lena Koopmann, Birgit Ziegenhagen, Ronald Bialozyt, Christina Mengel, Julien Hambuckers, Katrin Heer
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2019)
Article
Zoology
Joao Pedro Souza-Alves, Italo Mourthe, Renato R. Hilario, Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques, Jennifer Rehg, Carla C. Gestich, Adriana C. Acero-Murcia, Patrice Adret, Rolando Aquino, Melissa Berthet, Mark Bowler, Armando M. Calouro, Gustavo R. Canale, Nayara de A. Cardoso, Christini B. Caselli, Cristiane Caesar, Renata R. D. Chagas, Aryanne Clyvia, Cintia F. Corsini, Thomas Defler, Anneke DeLuycker, Anthony Di Fiore, Kimberly Dingess, Gideon Erkenswick, Michele Alves Ferreira, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Stephen F. Ferrari, Isadora P. Fontes, Josimar Daniel Gomes, Frederico P. R. Goncalves, Mauricio Guerra, Torbjorn Haugaasen, Stefanie Heiduck, Eckhard W. Heymann, Shannon Hodges, Rosario Huashuayo-Llamocca, Leandro Jerusalinsky, Carlos Benhur Kasper, Jenna Lawrence, Teresa Magdalena Lueffe, Karine G. D. Lopes, Jesus Martinez, Fabiano R. de Melo, Mariluce Rezende Messias, Mariana B. Nagy-Reis, Ines Nole, Filipa Paciencia, Erwin Palacios, Alice Poirier, Grasiela Porfirio, Amy Porter, Eluned Price, Rodrigo C. Printes, Erika P. Quintino, Evandro Amato Reis, Alessandro Rocha, Adriana Rodriguez, Fabio Roehe, Damian Rumiz, Sam Shanee, Marina M. Santana, Eleonore Z. F. Setz, Francisco Salatiel C. de Souza, Wilson Spironello, Emerita R. Tirado Herrera, Luana Vinhas, Kevina Vulinec, Robert B. Wallace, Mrinalini Watsa, Patricia C. Wright, Robert J. Young, Adrian A. Barnett
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Emma-Liina Marjakangas, Nerea Abrego, Vidar Grotan, Renato A. F. de Lima, Carolina Bello, Ricardo S. Bovendorp, Laurence Culot, Erica Hasui, Fernando Lima, Renata Lara Muylaert, Bernardo Brandao Niebuhr, Alexandre A. Oliveira, Lucas Augusto Pereira, Paulo I. Prado, Richard D. Stevens, Mauricio Humberto Vancine, Milton Cezar Ribeiro, Mauro Galetti, Otso Ovaskainen
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2020)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eckhard W. Heymann, Laurence Culot, Christoph Knogge, Andrew C. Smith, Emerita R. Tirado Herrera, Britta Mueller, Mojca Stojan-Dolar, Yvan Lledo Ferrer, Petra Kubisch, Denis Kupsch, Darja Slana, Mareike Lena Koopmann, Birgit Ziegenhagen, Ronald Bialozyt, Christina Mengel, Julien Hambuckers, Katrin Heer
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2020)
Article
Zoology
Guilherme S. T. Garbino, Leonardo Henrique da Silva, Rodrigo Goncalves Amaral, Gabriela Cabral Rezende, Vinicius J. A. Pereira, Laurence Culot
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lilian Sales, Laurence Culot, Mathias M. Pires
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2020)
Editorial Material
Zoology
Olivier Kaisin, Rodrigo Goncalves Amaral, Felipe Soares Bufalo, Fany Brotcorne, Laurence Culot
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2020)
Correction
Zoology
Guilherme S. T. Garbino, Leonardo Henrique da Silva, Rodrigo Goncalves Amaral, Gabriela Cabral Rezende, Vinicius J. A. Pereira, Laurence Culot
Article
Zoology
Gabriela Cabral Rezende, Thadeu Sobral-Souza, Laurence Culot
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2020)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Olivier Kaisin, Lisieux Fuzessy, Pascal Poncin, Fany Brotcorne, Laurence Culot
Summary: The study found that anthropogenic disturbances have a significant impact on the physiological stress of primates, with habitat loss and hunting specifically leading to increased glucocorticoid (GC) levels. Although high GC levels can help individuals adapt to challenges posed by human disturbances, sustained elevation of GC levels may impair reproduction, growth, and immune system activity. Further research is needed to control confounding factors and improve understanding of the link between GC levels and animal health, fitness, and survival.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Lisieux F. Fuzessy, Ana Benitez-Lopez, Eleanor M. Slade, Felipe S. Bufalo, Giovana C. Magro-de-Souza, Lucas A. Pereira, Laurence Culot
Summary: Human population growth and habitat destruction pose a threat to biodiversity worldwide, including the important role of dung beetles in tropical forest ecosystems. Research has shown that human activities impact dung beetle populations directly through habitat loss and indirectly through the decline of large vertebrates. By using a comprehensive meta-analytical approach, researchers have identified patterns defining how human activities alter dung beetle abundance, species richness, and community diversity.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Lisieux Fuzessy, Fernando A. O. Silveira, Laurence Culot, Pedro Jordano, Miguel Verdu
Summary: Seed dispersal benefits plants and frugivores, potentially driving co-evolution; phylogenetic congruences suggest shared evolutionary history between primates and plants; consistent eco-evolutionary dynamics with co-phylogenetic signals emerging independently across different regions.
Article
Ecology
Carolina Bello, Laurence Culot, Cesar Augusto Ruiz Agudelo, Mauro Galetti
Summary: This study examines the economic impact of the loss of large frugivores on seed dispersal and carbon sequestration, highlighting their significant contribution to carbon sequestration but lack of recognition in terms of economic value for ecosystem services. The research emphasizes the importance of conserving fruit dispersers and predator communities to ensure the long-term viability of forest carbon sequestration.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
L. A. Pereira, V. E. W. Campos, C. C. Gestich, M. C. Ribeiro, L. Culot
Summary: This study evaluated the impacts of land-use intensification and defaunation on primate assemblages in the Atlantic Forest and investigated the ecological consequences on seed dispersal. The findings suggest that changes in patch size and inter-patch distance have effects on primate species richness and functional traits. Decreased patch size may lead to reduced diversity of seed dispersers, while less permeable landscapes retain an uneven distribution of seed disperser traits.
ANIMAL CONSERVATION
(2022)