Proximity to roads disrupts rodents’ contributions to seed dispersal services and subsequent recruitment dynamics

1. Seed dispersal and subsequent recruitment dynamics play a crucially important role in regulating species coexistence and structuring tree diversity in diverse forests. Wildlife, which can dually shape the tree recruitment process by simultaneously functioning as natural enemies and seed dispersers, are undergoing widespread changes in population and behaviour due to the detrimental effects of expanding global road networks. However, the impact of these changes on recruitment dynamics through the alteration of seed dispersal processes remains understudied. 2. Here, we assessed how roads affect animal-mediated recruitment dynamics from the seed to adult stages of trees using a ubiquitous vertebrate-seed model: rodents and acorns. To quantify the degree to which proximity to a road alters seed dispersal and regulates subsequent recruitment dynamics, we conducted seed dispersal and predation experiments, and investigated the natural recruitment of a dominant tree species (Quercus aliena)...