Biodiversity, Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt (Main), Germany.
Conserv Biol. 2012 Dec;26(6):1072-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01927.x. Epub 2012 Sep 12.
Animal-mediated seed dispersal is important for sustaining biological diversity in forest ecosystems, particularly in the tropics. Forest fragmentation, hunting, and selective logging modify forests in myriad ways and their effects on animal-mediated seed dispersal have been examined in many case studies. However, the overall effects of different types of human disturbance on animal-mediated seed dispersal are still unknown. We identified 35 articles that provided 83 comparisons of animal-mediated seed dispersal between disturbed and undisturbed forests; all comparisons except one were conducted in tropical or subtropical ecosystems. We assessed the effects of forest fragmentation, hunting, and selective logging on seed dispersal of fleshy-fruited tree species. We carried out a meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation, hunting, and selective logging affected 3 components of animal-mediated seed dispersal: frugivore visitation rate, number of seeds removed, and distance of seed dispersal. Forest fragmentation, hunting, and selective logging did not affect visitation rate and were marginally associated with a reduction in seed-dispersal distance. Hunting and selective logging, but not fragmentation, were associated with a large reduction in the number of seeds removed. Fewer seeds of large-seeded than of small-seeded tree species were removed in hunted or selectively logged forests. A plausible explanation for the consistently negative effects of hunting and selective logging on large-seeded plant species is that large frugivores, as the predominant seed dispersers for large-seeded plant species, are the first animals to be extirpated from hunted or logged forests. The reduction in forest area after fragmentation appeared to have weaker effects on frugivore communities and animal-mediated seed dispersal than hunting and selective logging. The differential effects of hunting and selective logging on large- and small-seeded tree species underpinned case studies that showed disrupted plant-frugivore interactions could trigger a homogenization of seed traits in tree communities in hunted or logged tropical forests.
动物介导的种子传播对于维持森林生态系统的生物多样性至关重要，特别是在热带地区。森林破碎化、狩猎和选择性采伐以多种方式改变森林，其对动物介导的种子传播的影响已在许多案例研究中进行了研究。然而，不同类型的人类干扰对动物介导的种子传播的总体影响仍不清楚。我们确定了 35 篇文章，这些文章提供了 83 个关于受干扰和未受干扰森林之间动物介导的种子传播的比较；除了一个比较之外，所有比较都是在热带或亚热带生态系统中进行的。我们评估了森林破碎化、狩猎和选择性采伐对肉质果实树种种子传播的影响。我们进行了荟萃分析，以检验森林破碎化、狩猎和选择性采伐是否影响了动物介导的种子传播的 3 个组成部分：访花者访问率、移除的种子数量和种子传播距离。森林破碎化、狩猎和选择性采伐并没有影响访问率，只是略微与种子传播距离的缩短有关。狩猎和选择性采伐，但不是破碎化，与移除的种子数量大幅减少有关。在狩猎或选择性采伐的森林中，大种子树种的种子比小种子树种的种子更少被移除。狩猎和选择性采伐对大种子植物物种的持续负面影响的一个合理解释是，大食果动物作为大种子植物物种的主要种子传播者，是首先从狩猎或采伐森林中灭绝的动物。与狩猎和选择性采伐相比，破碎化后森林面积的减少对食果动物群落和动物介导的种子传播的影响似乎较弱。狩猎和选择性采伐对大种子和小种子树种的不同影响，为那些表明被破坏的植物-食果动物相互作用可能引发热带狩猎或采伐森林中树种种子特征同质化的案例研究提供了依据。
