Seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) is a conceptual framework that aims at quantifying the contribution of seed dispersal vectors to plant fitness. While it is well recognized that diplochorous dispersal systems, characterized ...

Large frugivores play an important role as seed dispersers and their extinction may affect plant regeneration. The consequences of such extinctions depend on the likelihood of other species being functionally redundant and ...

Although widespread among fungi, lichens, liverworts, and mosses, seed dispersal mechanisms operated by rain are unusual among flowering plants. Generally speaking, two mechanisms are involved in seed dispersal by rains: ...

The seed deposition pattern created by a seed disperser is one of the components of the efficiency of a species as seed disperser, and ultimately may influence the recruitment of a plant species. In this study, we used the ...

Tapirs are one of the last extant megafauna species that survived the Pleistocene extinctions. Given their size and digestive system characteristics, tapirs might be the last potential seed disperser of plant species that ...

Mimetic seeds simulate the appearance of fleshy fruits and arilled seeds without producing nutritive tissues as a reward for seed dispersers. In this strategy of seed dispersal, seeds may remain attached to the mother plant ...

According to most studies on seed dispersal in tropical forests, mammals and birds are considered the main dispersal agents and the role played by other animal groups remains poorly explored. We investigate qualitative and ...

At the Beni Biological Station, Bolivia, we compared the fate of seeds of the palm Attalea phalerata dispersed by tapirs to a lattine with that of non-dispetsed seeds. Survival of seeds that had passed through tapir guts ...

Quinolizidine alkaloids (QAs) are secondary compounds found in seeds of many species of plants, possibly protecting them against pathogens and seed predators. QAs were isolated from Ormosia arborea seeds and bioassayed ...