What drives seed dispersal effectiveness?

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Botany

Background:

• Seed dispersal by animals is vital for plant reproduction and forest regeneration.
• The seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) framework quantifies animal contributions to plant fitness.
• Current SDE studies are often descriptive and localized, limiting understanding of broad patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate drivers of variation in endozoochorous SDE across different animal-plant systems.
• To examine trade-offs between seed dispersal quality and quantity.
• To determine the influence of animal body mass on SDE and its components.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search for studies quantifying endozoochorous SDE for multiple species.
• Integrative analysis of factors influencing SDE variation.
• Statistical examination of relationships between body mass, dispersal quality, and quantity.

Main Results:

• The relationship between seed dispersal quality and quantity is influenced by animal body size.
• Animal body mass affects dispersal quality and quantity differently, but not total SDE.
• Neither seed dispersal quality nor quantity alone explains more global SDE variance.

Conclusions:

• Animal traits, particularly body size, mediate the trade-off between seed dispersal quantity and quality.
• Large-scale patterns in SDE are complex and not driven by a single component.
• Standardized data collection is crucial for advancing SDE research and understanding ecological dynamics.