Frugivore behavioural details matter for seed dispersal: a multi-species model for cantabrian thrushes and trees.

ABSTRACT: Animal movement and behaviour is fundamental for ecosystem functioning. The process of seed dispersal by frugivorous animals is a showcase for this paradigm since their behaviour shapes the spatial patterns of the earliest stage of plant regeneration. However, we still lack a general understanding of how intrinsic (frugivore and plant species traits) and extrinsic (landscape features) factors interact to determine how seeds of a given species are more likely to be deposited in some places more than in others. We develop a multi-species mechanistic model of seed dispersal based on frugivore behavioural responses to landscape heterogeneity. The model was fitted to data from three-years of spatially-explicit field observations on the behaviour of six frugivorous thrushes and the fruiting patt

SUBMITTER: Morales JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3679117 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature