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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Birds as agents of seed dispersal in a human-dominated landscape in southern Costa Rica
Biological Conservation, Volume 141, No. 2, Year 2008
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Description
Birds play vital roles as seed dispersers helping to maintain and restore plant communities. With restoration increasingly key to global conservation, it is important to understand the landscape attributes and bird community characteristics that most influence avian seed dispersal in human-altered landscapes. We examined bird community structure and seed-dispersal patterns in agricultural countryside in Costa Rica that is typical of much of the Neotropics. Contrary to expectations, bird abundance, not richness, best predicted the richness of bird-dispersed seeds. Neither forest patch size or proximity, nor total tree cover, influenced seed dispersal. The richness and abundance of dispersed seeds, however, was strongly correlated with "wetness," a remotely-sensed metric of vegetation, at several scales. These results suggest that in this human-dominated tropical region: (1) bird abundance, not species richness or size, may drive seed dispersal, and (2) remote-sensing combined with field verification can detect landscape elements that are helpful for maintaining the option of bird-mediated reforestation. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Pejchar, Liba
United States, Palo Alto
Stanford University
Pringle, Robert M.
United States, Palo Alto
Stanford University
Daily, Gretchen C.
United States, Palo Alto
Stanford University
Statistics
Citations: 104
Authors: 3
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.biocon.2007.11.008
ISSN:
00063207