Effects of canopy cover on fruiting intensity and fruit removal of a tropical invasive weed

Lantana camara (hereafter, Lantana) is among the worst invasive alien plants spread extensively across Africa, Australia and Asia at an alarming rate, posing significant challenges to conservation of native biodiversity. While, Lantana invasion is widely recognised to be more pronounced in open-canopy habitats (including deciduous forests, forest edges and gaps), the potential role of variation in seed dispersal across habitats varying in overstory canopy cover is poorly understood. Avian frugivores are among primary seed dispersers of the fleshy-fruited Lantana. We monitored 45 Lantana shrubs across a gradient of overstory canopy cover to determine the relationship between fruiting intensity and canopy cover. We watched 80 Lantana shrubs (240 h) across a canopy cover gradient to determine 1) differences in frugivore assemblage visiting Lantana across open- and closed-canopy habitats, 2) drivers of frugivore visitation on Lantana, and 3) relationship between seed disperser visitation ra...