TY - JOUR
T1 - Fruit traits of pioneer trees structure seed dispersal across distances on tropical deforested landscapes
T2 - Implications for restoration
AU - Camargo, Paulo H.S.A.
AU - Pizo, Marco A.
AU - Brancalion, Pedro H.S.
AU - Carlo, Tomás A.
N1 - Funding Information:
P.H.S.A.C. was financed by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. We also thank São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for financial support (2016/17194‐0). M.A.P. receives a research grant from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq). NSF grant DEB‐1556719 funded T.A.C. while contributing to this work. We are grateful to L. Reid and J.P. González‐Varo for the helpful comments to improve the manuscript. We thank all farmers for the authorization of research in their properties. We are grateful to S. Negrão and his work team for help during the experiment setup and D.J. Moreno, H.D. Machado, J.E.S.A. Camargo, L.M.S.A. Camargo and R.A.M. Agapito for help during fieldwork.
Funding Information:
P.H.S.A.C. was financed by Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior ? Brasil (CAPES) ? Finance Code 001. We also thank S?o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for financial support (2016/17194-0). M.A.P. receives a research grant from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq). NSF grant DEB-1556719 funded T.A.C. while contributing to this work. We are grateful to L. Reid and J.P. Gonz?lez-Varo for the helpful comments to improve the manuscript. We thank all farmers for the authorization of research in their properties. We are grateful to S. Negr?o and his work team for help during the experiment setup and D.J. Moreno, H.D. Machado, J.E.S.A. Camargo, L.M.S.A. Camargo and R.A.M. Agapito for help during fieldwork.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 British Ecological Society
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Pioneer trees with fleshy fruits are typically planted in restoration projects to attract frugivores as a mean to increase dispersal and accelerate forest regeneration. However, differences in fruit traits of pioneer trees can potentially influence dispersal and their restoration outcomes. Here we investigated the effects of bird and plant traits, and distance to forest fragments, on the seed rain using a tree-planting experiment replicated in 12 deforested sites in Brazil. Factors were fruit traits of pioneer trees (wind-dispersed, bird-dispersed with lipids or with carbohydrates and controls) and distance (10, 50, 300 m) from forest fragments. We found that density and richness of birds and seeds decreased exponentially with distance from fragments, yet these effects were minor compared to the effects of fruit traits on the structure of the seed rain. Overall, plots with fleshy fruited pioneers attracted much greater bird activity and seed dispersal than plots with wind-dispersal pioneers and the controls. For instance, plots with carbohydrate-rich fruits received more than twice the average species richness and density of birds and seeds of plots with lipid-rich pioneer trees, surpassing wind-dispersed pioneers by more than 80%, and controls by over 90%. Furthermore, the fruit trait treatments resulted in morphological shifts in the average traits of visiting birds. Significant differences in bill gape and flight capacities (wing-loading) were associated with the differences in the seed rain associated with each treatment. Synthesis and applications. Understanding how trait-matching processes mediating mutualistic seed dispersal by frugivores interact with distance-dependent dispersal limitation on deforested tropical landscapes is critical for improving forest restoration efforts. This is especially relevant in the context of applied nucleation. As shown here, avian seed dispersal can thus be manipulated in restoration projects in order to increase connectivity and speed up forest recovery and the provision of the multiple ecosystem services that follow forest succession.
AB - Pioneer trees with fleshy fruits are typically planted in restoration projects to attract frugivores as a mean to increase dispersal and accelerate forest regeneration. However, differences in fruit traits of pioneer trees can potentially influence dispersal and their restoration outcomes. Here we investigated the effects of bird and plant traits, and distance to forest fragments, on the seed rain using a tree-planting experiment replicated in 12 deforested sites in Brazil. Factors were fruit traits of pioneer trees (wind-dispersed, bird-dispersed with lipids or with carbohydrates and controls) and distance (10, 50, 300 m) from forest fragments. We found that density and richness of birds and seeds decreased exponentially with distance from fragments, yet these effects were minor compared to the effects of fruit traits on the structure of the seed rain. Overall, plots with fleshy fruited pioneers attracted much greater bird activity and seed dispersal than plots with wind-dispersal pioneers and the controls. For instance, plots with carbohydrate-rich fruits received more than twice the average species richness and density of birds and seeds of plots with lipid-rich pioneer trees, surpassing wind-dispersed pioneers by more than 80%, and controls by over 90%. Furthermore, the fruit trait treatments resulted in morphological shifts in the average traits of visiting birds. Significant differences in bill gape and flight capacities (wing-loading) were associated with the differences in the seed rain associated with each treatment. Synthesis and applications. Understanding how trait-matching processes mediating mutualistic seed dispersal by frugivores interact with distance-dependent dispersal limitation on deforested tropical landscapes is critical for improving forest restoration efforts. This is especially relevant in the context of applied nucleation. As shown here, avian seed dispersal can thus be manipulated in restoration projects in order to increase connectivity and speed up forest recovery and the provision of the multiple ecosystem services that follow forest succession.
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U2 - 10.1111/1365-2664.13697
DO - 10.1111/1365-2664.13697
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088111866
SN - 0021-8901
VL - 57
SP - 2329
EP - 2339
JO - Journal of Applied Ecology
JF - Journal of Applied Ecology
IS - 12
ER -