Strong dependence of a pioneer shrub on seed dispersal services provided by an endemic endangered lizard in a Mediterranean island ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: The accelerating rate of vertebrate extinctions and population declines threatens to disrupt important ecological interactions, altering key ecosystem processes such as animal seed dispersal. The study of highly specialized mutualistic interactions is crucial to predict the consequences of population declines and extinctions. Islands offer unique opportunities to study highly specialized interactions, as they often have naturally depauperated faunas and are experiencing high rates of human-driven extinctions. In this study, we assess the effect of seed dispersal on seedling recruitment of Ephedra fragilis (Ephedraceae) on a Mediterranean island ecosystem. We used field data and stochastic simulation modeling to estimate seed fate and recruitment patterns of this pioneer shrub typical of ar

SUBMITTER: Neghme C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5565188 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature