The resilient frugivorous fauna of an urban forest fragment and its potential role in vegetation enrichment.

ABSTRACT: Anthropocentric defaunation affects critical ecological processes, such as seed dispersal, putting ecosystems and biomes at risk, and leading to habitat impoverishment. Diverse restoration techniques could reverse the process of habitat impoverishment. However, in most of the restoration efforts, only vegetation cover is targeted. Fauna and flora are treated as isolated components, neglecting a key component of ecosystems' functioning, the ecological interactions. We tested whether the resilient frugivorous generalist fauna can improve habitat quality by dispersing native plant species through the use of fruit feeders as in a semideciduous seasonal urban forest fragment. A total of 32 sampling points was selected at a heavily degraded 251-ha urban forest fragment, with feeders installed at

SUBMITTER: Rigacci EDB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7787706 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature