Data from: Unravelling seed dispersal through fragmented landscapes: Frugivore species operate unevenly as mobile links

Seed dispersal constitutes a pivotal process in an increasingly fragmented world, promoting population connectivity, colonization and range shifts in plants. Unveiling how multiple frugivore species disperse seeds through fragmented landscapes, operating as mobile links, has remained elusive owing to methodological constraints for monitoring seed dispersal events. We combine for the first time DNA barcoding and DNA microsatellites to identify, respectively, the frugivore species and the source trees of animal-dispersed seeds in forest and matrix of a fragmented landscape. We found a high functional complementarity among frugivores in terms of seed deposition at different habitats (forest vs. matrix), perches (isolated trees vs. electricity pylons) and matrix sectors (close vs. far from the forest edge), cross-habitat seed fluxes, dispersal distances, and canopy-cover dependency. Seed rain at the landscape-scale, from forest to distant matrix sectors, was characterized by turnovers in the contribution of frugivores and source-tree habitats: open-habitat frugivores replaced forest-dependent frugivores, whereas matrix trees replaced forest trees. As a result of such turnovers, the magnitude of seed rain was evenly distributed between habitats and landscape sectors. We thus uncover key mechanisms behind ‘biodiversity–ecosystem function’ relationships, in this case, the relationship between frugivore diversity and landscape-scale seed dispersal. Our results reveal the importance of open-habitat frugivores, isolated fruiting trees, and anthropogenic perching sites (infrastructures) in generating seed dispersal events far from the remnant forest, highlighting their potential to drive regeneration dynamics through the matrix. This study helps to broaden the ‘mobile link’ concept in seed dispersal studies by providing a comprehensive and integrative view of the way in which multiple frugivore species disseminate seeds through real-world landscapes.

种子扩散在日益破碎化的全球景观中是一项核心生态过程，可助力植物实现种群连通、群落定植与分布范围迁移。
由于种子扩散事件监测存在方法学限制，揭示多种食果动物（frugivore）如何作为移动纽带（mobile link）在破碎化景观中完成种子扩散，长期以来一直是学界尚未攻克的研究难题。
本研究首次结合DNA条形码（DNA barcoding）与DNA微卫星（DNA microsatellite）技术，分别对破碎化景观中森林与基质（matrix）生境里经动物扩散的种子，鉴定其携带的食果动物种类以及来源母树。
研究发现，食果动物群落在不同生境（森林 vs. 基质）、停留位点（孤立树木 vs. 输电塔）以及基质斑块（距林缘近 vs. 远）的种子沉积、跨生境种子通量、扩散距离以及冠层覆盖依赖性方面，展现出极高的功能互补性。
在景观尺度上，从森林到远端基质斑块的种子雨，呈现出食果动物贡献与来源树生境的类群更替特征：开阔生境食果动物取代了依赖森林的食果动物，而基质来源树木取代了森林来源树木。
这类类群更替使得种子雨的总量在各生境与景观斑块间分布均匀。
据此，我们揭示了“生物多样性-生态系统功能”关系背后的关键机制——本研究中即为食果动物多样性与景观尺度种子扩散之间的关联。
本研究结果表明，开阔生境食果动物、孤立结果树木以及人工停留位点（人工设施），在远离残余森林的区域完成种子扩散过程中发挥着重要作用，凸显了它们可通过景观基质推动植物更新动态的潜力。
本研究通过全面整合多种食果动物在真实景观中传播种子的机制，拓展了种子扩散研究中的“移动纽带”概念。