Fruit traits of pioneer trees structure seed dispersal across distances on tropical deforested landscapes: implications for restoration

Pioneer trees with fleshy fruits are typically planted in restoration projects to attract frugivores as a mean to increase dispersal and accelerate forest regeneration. However, differences in fruit traits of pioneer trees can potentially influence dispersal and their restoration outcomes.
Here we investigated the effects of bird and plant traits, and distance to forest fragments, on the seed rain using a tree-planting experiment replicated in 12 deforested sites in Brazil. Factors were fruit traits of pioneer trees (wind-dispersed, bird-dispersed with lipids or with carbohydrates, and controls) and distance (10, 50, 300 m) from forest fragments.
We found that density and richness of birds and seeds decreased exponentially with distance from fragments, yet these effects were minor compared to the effects of fruit traits on the structure of the seed rain.
Overall, plots with fleshy-fruited pioneers attracted much greater bird activity and seed dispersal than plots with wind-disp...