How far can frugivorous birds disperse seeds during migration?

Long-distance seed dispersal plays a crucial role in shaping plant distributions. The annual migration of millions of frugivorous birds holds substantial potential for the long-distance dispersal of fleshy-fruited plants, which are a major component of forests and woodlands globally. However, quantitative estimations of seed-dispersal distances mediated by migrant frugivorous birds are still lacking. Here, we uniquely combine GPS-tracked movement data of thrushes migrating across Europe (n = 38 individuals) with empirical data on fruit consumption, flight departure and speed, and seed retention times in the birds’ gut to mechanistically simulate dispersal events. Our results reveal that, during migratory flights, frugivorous birds can disperse seeds over tens to hundreds of kilometres, depending on the plant species (range across species: mean = 9–45 km; P99.9 = 42–221 km; max. = 58–521 km). In contrast, most dispersal distances (P99.9) by non-migratory movements were within 1 km. Small..., , # Data from: How far can frugivorous birds disperse seeds during migration?

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4pw](10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4pw)

## Description of the data and file structure

This repository contains the input data used to run and compare mechanistic models predicting seed dispersal distances of 31 fleshy-fruited plant species generated by migratory frugivorous birds. We focused on song thrushes (*Turdus philomelos*) as the study migratory bird, one of the most important frugivorous birds in Europe. The project integrates both Bayesian parametric and non-parametric approaches, relying on empirical and literature-derived data.

### Files and variables

Datasets:

1.\"departure_times.csv\"

2.\"flight_distances.csv\"

3.\"flight_speeds.csv\"

4.\"ingestion_times.csv\"

5.\"seed_retention_times.csv\"

Description of the data and file structure

1.\"departure_times.csv\"

Raw data on migratory flight departure times of the ring ouzel (*Turdus torquatus*), a nocturnal migratory bird that i...,