Centre for Functional Ecology, Associate Laboratory TERRA, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal.
Department of Biology, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Science. 2024 Oct 11;386(6718):206-211. doi: 10.1126/science.ado1464. Epub 2024 Oct 10.
Seed dispersal is crucial for ecosystem persistence, especially in fragmented landscapes, such as those common in Europe. Ongoing defaunation might compromise effective seed dispersal, but the conservation status of pairwise interactions remains unknown. With a literature review, we reconstructed the first European-wide seed dispersal network and evaluated the conservation status of interactions by assessing each interacting partner's IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) conservation status and population trends. We found that a third of the disperser species and interactions face potential extinction and that 30% of the plant species have most of their dispersers threatened or declining. Our study reveals a developing seed dispersal crisis in Europe and highlights large knowledge gaps regarding the dispersers and conservation status of zoochorous plants, urging further scrutiny and action to conserve the seed dispersal service.
种子传播对于生态系统的持续存在至关重要，特别是在像欧洲这样常见的破碎化景观中。持续的动物灭绝可能会影响有效的种子传播，但种间相互作用的保护状况仍然未知。通过文献综述，我们重建了第一个全欧洲范围的种子传播网络，并通过评估每个相互作用的伙伴的 IUCN（国际自然保护联盟）保护状况和种群趋势，评估了相互作用的保护状况。我们发现，三分之一的传播者物种和相互作用面临潜在的灭绝威胁，而且 30%的植物物种的大部分传播者受到威胁或减少。我们的研究揭示了欧洲正在出现的种子传播危机，并突出了关于动物传播者和有性繁殖植物保护状况的大量知识空白，敦促进一步审查和采取行动来保护种子传播服务。
