Data from: Special delivery: scavengers direct seed dispersal towards ungulate carcasses

Cadaver decomposition-islands around animal carcasses can facilitate establishment of various plant life. Facultative scavengers have great potential for endozoochory, and often aggregate around carcasses. Hence, they may disperse plant seeds that they ingest across the landscape towards cadaver decomposition-islands. Here, we demonstrate this novel mechanism along a gradient of wild tundra reindeer carcasses. First, we show that the spatial distribution of scavenger feces (birds and foxes) was concentrated around carcasses. Second, feces of the predominant scavengers (corvids) commonly contained viable seeds of crowberry, a keystone species of the alpine tundra with predominantly vegetative reproduction. We suggest that cadaver decomposition-islands function as endpoints for directed endozoochory by scavengers. Such a mechanism could be especially beneficial for species that rely on small scale disturbances in soil and vegetation, such as several Nordic berry-producing species with cryptic generative reproduction.

动物尸体周边形成的尸体分解岛（cadaver decomposition-islands）可助力多种植物完成定植。兼性食腐动物具备极强的体内传播（endozoochory）潜力，且常聚集于尸体周围。因此，它们可将摄入的植物种子通过扩散传播至尸体分解岛周边区域。本研究针对一系列梯度变化的野生苔原驯鹿尸体样本，验证了这一全新机制。首先，研究发现食腐动物（鸟类与狐狸）的粪便空间分布显著聚集于尸体周边；其次，优势食腐类群（鸦科鸟类）的粪便中普遍存在岩高兰的存活种子——岩高兰是高山苔原的关键物种（keystone species），其繁殖方式以营养繁殖为主。我们据此提出，尸体分解岛可作为食腐动物定向体内传播种子的终点。该机制对于依赖土壤与植被小规模干扰的物种尤为有益，例如数种具备隐蔽有性繁殖特性的北欧浆果类植物。