Data from: Interspecific synchrony of seed rain shapes rodent-mediated indirect seed-seed interactions of sympatric tree species in a subtropical forest

<b>Abstract </b>

Animal-mediated
indirect interactions play a significant role in maintaining the biodiversity
of plant communities. Less known is whether interspecific synchrony of seed
rain can alter the indirect interactions of sympatric tree species. We
assessed the seed dispersal success by tracking the fates of 21,600 tagged seeds
from six paired sympatric tree species in both monospecific and mixed plots
across 4 successive years in a subtropical forest. We found that apparent mutualism was associated with the
interspecific synchrony of seed rain both seasonally and yearly, while apparent
competition or apparent
predation was associated with interspecific asynchrony
of seed rain either seasonally or yearly. We did not find consistent associations of indirect
interactions with seed traits. Our study suggests that the interspecific synchrony
of seed rain plays a key role in the formation of animal-mediated indirect
interactions, which in turn, may alter the seasonal
or yearly seed rain schedules of sympatric tree species.