The signatures of Anthropocene defaunation: cascading effects of the seed dispersal collapse.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic activity is driving population declines and extinctions of large-bodied, fruit-eating animals worldwide. Loss of these frugivores is expected to trigger negative cascading effects on plant populations if remnant species fail to replace the seed dispersal services provided by the extinct frugivores. A collapse of seed dispersal may not only affect plant demography (i.e., lack of recruitment), but should also supress gene flow via seed dispersal. Yet little empirical data still exist demonstrating the genetic consequences of defaunation for animal-dispersed plant species. Here, we first document a significant reduction of seed dispersal distances along a gradient of human-driven defaunation, with increasing loss of large- and medium-bodied frugivores. We then show that local pl

SUBMITTER: Perez-Mendez N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4835773 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature