Frost decreases fruit production in a Neotropical savanna: implications for frugivorous bird abundances

Research abstract:Climate change is driving increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events locally and globally. For instance, severe frost events seem to be happening every five years in the southern limit of the Cerrado, a Neotropical savanna. Although frost effects on leaf and branch damage are relatively well studied, the effects of frost on fleshy fruit production in natural vegetation and its potential effects on frugivorous animals are largely unknown. We conducted this study in the Cerrado, where severe frost events allowed us to compare fruit production and frugivorous bird abundance before and after the disturbance, and between sites affected and non-affected by frost. Frosts decreased fleshy fruit production and the number of plant individuals bearing fruits but had no clear effects on species richness and abundance of frugivorous birds. However, bird abundances increased locally with fruit production only in sites affected by frost. Our results suggest that frost events in Cerrado reduce fruit availability, indirectly impacting frugivorous bird abundances. These findings suggest that frosts may trigger cascading effects on seed dispersal and plant recruitment, and the broader frugivore community, especially under future scenarios of more frequent and extreme climatic events.Dataset descriptionOur dataset is composed of two datasets containing fruit production per plant individual, number of plant individuals bearing ripe fruits, bird richness and abundances.We have common columns to both datasets, that are:plot: site identificationplot_status: the plot status, if affected or non-affected by frostmonth: the month that species were recordedyear: the year species were recorded, if pre- or post-frostAnd then for each dataset, we have specific columns:fruit_data contains the number of ripe fruits produced by each plant individual per month, plot, year and plant species.fruits: the number of mature fruits produced by plant individualsfruit_presence: a binary variable ranging from 0 (absence of fruits) and 1 (presence of fruits)plantSp: plant species identificationbird_data contains the richness and abundances of birds per plot, month and year.birdSp: bird species identificationindividuals: the abundance of birds recorded in that plot, month and yearfruit_sum: the abundance of fruits produced in that plot, month and yearhours: the effort put into point counts per plot month and yearbird_richness: the richness of birds recorded in that plot, month and year