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Consequences of intraspecific variation in seed dispersal for plant demography, communities, evolution and global change.

ABSTRACT: As the single opportunity for plants to move, seed dispersal has an important impact on plant fitness, species distributions and patterns of biodiversity. However, models that predict dynamics such as risk of extinction, range shifts and biodiversity loss tend to rely on the mean value of parameters and rarely incorporate realistic dispersal mechanisms. By focusing on the mean population value, variation among individuals or variability caused by complex spatial and temporal dynamics is ignored. This calls for increased efforts to understand individual variation in dispersal and integrate it more explicitly into population and community models involving dispersal. However, the sources, magnitude and outcomes of intraspecific variation in dispersal are poorly characterized, limiting our understanding of the role of dispersal in mediating the dynamics of communities and their response to global change. In this manuscript, we synthesize recent research that examines the sources of individual variation in dispersal and emphasize its implications for plant fitness, populations and communities. We argue that this intraspecific variation in seed dispersal does not simply add noise to systems, but, in fact, alters dispersal processes and patterns with consequences for demography, communities, evolution and response to anthropogenic changes. We conclude with recommendations for moving this field of research forward.

SUBMITTER: Snell RS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6644487 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Consequences of intraspecific variation in seed dispersal for plant demography, communities, evolution and global change.

Snell Rebecca S RS Beckman Noelle G NG Fricke Evan E Loiselle Bette A BA Carvalho Carolina S CS Jones Landon R LR Lichti Nathanael I NI Lustenhouwer Nicky N Schreiber Sebastian J SJ Strickland Christopher C Sullivan Lauren L LL Cavazos Brittany R BR Giladi Itamar I Hastings Alan A Holbrook Kimberly M KM Jongejans Eelke E Kogan Oleg O Montaño-Centellas Flavia F Rudolph Javiera J Rogers Haldre S HS Zwolak Rafal R Schupp Eugene W EW

AoB PLANTS 20190321 4

As the single opportunity for plants to move, seed dispersal has an important impact on plant fitness, species distributions and patterns of biodiversity. However, models that predict dynamics such as risk of extinction, range shifts and biodiversity loss tend to rely on the mean value of parameters and rarely incorporate realistic dispersal mechanisms. By focusing on the mean population value, variation among individuals or variability caused by complex spatial and temporal dynamics is ignored. ...[more]

PMID: 31346404

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Project description:Vertical seed dispersal, i.e. seed dispersal towards a higher or lower altitude, is considered a critical process for plant escape from climate change. However, studies exploring vertical seed dispersal are scarce, and thus, its direction, frequency, and mechanisms are little known. In the temperate zone, evaluating vertical seed dispersal of animal-dispersed plants fruiting in autumn and/or winter is essential considering the dominance of such plants in temperate forests. We hypothesized that their seeds are dispersed towards lower altitudes because of the downhill movement of frugivorous animals following the autumn-to-winter phenology of their food plants which proceeds from the mountain tops to the foot in the temperate zone. We evaluated the vertical seed dispersal of the autumn-fruiting wild kiwi, Actinidia arguta, which is dispersed by temperate mammals. We collected dispersed seeds from mammal faeces in the Kanto Mountains of central Japan and estimated the distance of vertical seed dispersal using the oxygen isotope ratios of the dispersed seeds. We found the intensive downhill seed dispersal of wild kiwi by all seed dispersers, except the raccoon dog (bear: mean -393.1 m; marten: -245.3 m; macaque: -98.5 m; and raccoon dog: +4.5 m). Mammals with larger home ranges dispersed seeds longer towards the foot of the mountains. Furthermore, we found that seeds produced at higher altitudes were dispersed a greater distance towards the foot of the mountains. Altitudinal gradients in autumn-to-winter plant phenology and other mountain characteristics, i.e. larger surface areas and more attractive human crops at lower altitudes compared to higher altitudes, were considered drivers of downhill seed dispersal via animal movement. Strong downhill seed dispersal by mammals suggests that populations of autumn-to-winter fruiting plants dispersed by animals may not be able to sufficiently escape from current global warming in the temperate zone.

Dataset Information

Consequences of intraspecific variation in seed dispersal for plant demography, communities, evolution and global change.

Publications

Consequences of intraspecific variation in seed dispersal for plant demography, communities, evolution and global change.

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