Changes in tree community structure in defaunated forests are not driven only by dispersal limitation.

ABSTRACT: Bushmeat hunting has reduced population sizes of large frugivorous vertebrates throughout the tropics, thereby reducing the dispersal of seeds. This is believed to affect tree population dynamics, and therefore community composition, because the seed dispersal of large-seeded trees depends upon large-bodied vertebrates.We report on a long-running study of the effect of defaunation on a tropical tree community. In three censuses over 11 years, we compared sapling recruitment between a hunted and a nonhunted site, which are nearby and comparable to one another, to determine the extent to which species composition has changed through time following defaunation. We expected to find a reduced abundance of tree species that rely on large frugivores for dispersal at the hunted site and altered co

SUBMITTER: Hazelwood K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7140993 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature