Microsites of seed arrival: spatio-temporal variations in complex seed-disperser networks

Microsites where seeds arrive during the dispersal process determine plant reproductive success, affecting the quality of dispersal. Despite their crucial role for plant recruitment, very few studies have addressed spatio-temporal variations in microsites of seed arrival in complex seed-disperser networks. Using an endozoochorous dispersal system, we characterized the microsites of seed arrival of eight fleshy-fruited plant species dispersed by five mammal species during two consecutive seasons across three sites in a Mediterranean environment (n = 383 feces with seeds; 261,453 seeds). We evaluated spatial and temporal variations in the probability of a seed to arrive at open microsites or at microsites with varying plant cover, considering selection by frugivores and assessing the extent to which seeds of particular species arrived under conspecifics or heterospecifics. We found strong spatio-temporal variations in the amounts of seeds of the eight target species arriving at different ...

种子在传播过程中抵达的微生境（microsites）决定植物繁殖成功率，并影响种子传播的质量。尽管微生境对植物定植至关重要，但目前极少有研究关注复杂种子传播者网络中种子抵达微生境的时空变异。本研究依托内吞式传播（endozoochorous）系统，在3个样地、连续2个季节的调查周期内，对5种哺乳动物传播的8种肉质果植物的种子抵达微生境特征进行了系统表征；本次研究共分析含种子粪便383份，共计种子261453粒。研究综合考量食果动物（frugivore）的选择偏好，一方面分析了种子抵达开阔微生境或不同植物覆盖度微生境的概率的时空变异，另一方面评估了特定物种种子在同种个体（conspecific）或异种个体（heterospecific）下的抵达比例。本研究发现，8种目标植物的种子在不同微生境中的分布存在显著的时空变异……