Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina

Recent studies have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms behind population and community responses to edge effects. However, functional responses remain poorly explored. Seed dispersal is a key process in ecosystem functioning, and edge effects may alter patterns of seed dispersal through ch...

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Autores principales: Vespa, Natalia Isabel, Zurita, Gustavo Andrés, Bellocq, Maria Isabel
Publicado: 2014
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Acceso en línea:https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03781127_v328_n_p310_Vespa
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03781127_v328_n_p310_Vespa
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spelling paper:paper_03781127_v328_n_p310_Vespa2023-06-08T15:39:22Z Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina Vespa, Natalia Isabel Zurita, Gustavo Andrés Bellocq, Maria Isabel Dispersal agent Habitat contrast Seed rain Tree plantations Conservation Rain Reforestation Vegetation Ecosystem functioning Environmental conditions Forest regeneration Habitat contrast Habitat suitability Seed rain Tree plantations Vegetation structure Ecosystems community response ecosystem function edge effect environmental conditions functional response habitat restoration population structure regeneration seed dispersal species richness tree planting Conservation Dispersants Ecosystems Plantations Rain Reforestation Seeds Atlantic Forest Recent studies have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms behind population and community responses to edge effects. However, functional responses remain poorly explored. Seed dispersal is a key process in ecosystem functioning, and edge effects may alter patterns of seed dispersal through changes in dispersers' behavior and environmental conditions. Here, we test predictive models of edge effects and habitat suitability on seed dispersal by considering different scenarios given by differences in the dispersal agent (wind and vertebrate dispersal), and the contrast between habitats of native southern Atlantic forest and tree plantations that occur across the entire area of influence of the edge. We fit our data to non-linear theoretical models to explore the response of seed rain to three general patterns of response to edge effects and differences on habitat suitability: (1) monotonic (sigmoid or exponential) (seed rain is higher in one of the habitats), (2) unimodal (seed rain shows either a maximum or a minimum near the edge, with or without differences on habitat suitability between adjacent habitats) and (3) neutral response (seed rain is constant across the ecotone). We estimated abundance and richness of wind- and vertebrate-dispersed seeds using seed traps, and measured vegetation structure in four different edges between native forest and tree plantations (from recent to mature plantations). Edge effects affected seed rain patterns depending on both the degree of vegetation contrast between habitats and the dispersal agent. Wind-dispersed seeds showed a monotonic response to most edges, whereas responses of vertebrate-dispersed seeds varied among edges (monotonic, unimodal and neutral), consistent with the dispersers' behavior. High contrast edges (forest-recent plantation) showed unimodal edge response, while those created by low contrast edges (forest-mature plantation) exhibited monotonic responses (sigmoid). Differences on habitat suitability on vertebrate-dispersed seeds increased with edge contrast, while richness and abundance of vertebrate-dispersed seeds in the habitat interior showed the opposite pattern. The abundance of wind-dispersed seeds inside the studied habitats increased with edge contrast. The current analytical framework developed to explore responses of populations and communities to edge effects successfully described the response of seed dispersal. Furthermore, edge effects affected seed dispersal patterns differently depending on the dispersal agent and the contrast between habitats. Our findings contribute to the understanding of forest regeneration processes and may help increase the effectiveness of restoration efforts. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. Fil:Vespa, N.I. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Zurita, G. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Isabel Bellocq, M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. 2014 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03781127_v328_n_p310_Vespa http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03781127_v328_n_p310_Vespa
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Dispersal agent
Habitat contrast
Seed rain
Tree plantations
Conservation
Rain
Reforestation
Vegetation
Ecosystem functioning
Environmental conditions
Forest regeneration
Habitat contrast
Habitat suitability
Seed rain
Tree plantations
Vegetation structure
Ecosystems
community response
ecosystem function
edge effect
environmental conditions
functional response
habitat restoration
population structure
regeneration
seed dispersal
species richness
tree planting
Conservation
Dispersants
Ecosystems
Plantations
Rain
Reforestation
Seeds
Atlantic Forest
spellingShingle Dispersal agent
Habitat contrast
Seed rain
Tree plantations
Conservation
Rain
Reforestation
Vegetation
Ecosystem functioning
Environmental conditions
Forest regeneration
Habitat contrast
Habitat suitability
Seed rain
Tree plantations
Vegetation structure
Ecosystems
community response
ecosystem function
edge effect
environmental conditions
functional response
habitat restoration
population structure
regeneration
seed dispersal
species richness
tree planting
Conservation
Dispersants
Ecosystems
Plantations
Rain
Reforestation
Seeds
Atlantic Forest
Vespa, Natalia Isabel
Zurita, Gustavo Andrés
Bellocq, Maria Isabel
Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina
topic_facet Dispersal agent
Habitat contrast
Seed rain
Tree plantations
Conservation
Rain
Reforestation
Vegetation
Ecosystem functioning
Environmental conditions
Forest regeneration
Habitat contrast
Habitat suitability
Seed rain
Tree plantations
Vegetation structure
Ecosystems
community response
ecosystem function
edge effect
environmental conditions
functional response
habitat restoration
population structure
regeneration
seed dispersal
species richness
tree planting
Conservation
Dispersants
Ecosystems
Plantations
Rain
Reforestation
Seeds
Atlantic Forest
description Recent studies have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms behind population and community responses to edge effects. However, functional responses remain poorly explored. Seed dispersal is a key process in ecosystem functioning, and edge effects may alter patterns of seed dispersal through changes in dispersers' behavior and environmental conditions. Here, we test predictive models of edge effects and habitat suitability on seed dispersal by considering different scenarios given by differences in the dispersal agent (wind and vertebrate dispersal), and the contrast between habitats of native southern Atlantic forest and tree plantations that occur across the entire area of influence of the edge. We fit our data to non-linear theoretical models to explore the response of seed rain to three general patterns of response to edge effects and differences on habitat suitability: (1) monotonic (sigmoid or exponential) (seed rain is higher in one of the habitats), (2) unimodal (seed rain shows either a maximum or a minimum near the edge, with or without differences on habitat suitability between adjacent habitats) and (3) neutral response (seed rain is constant across the ecotone). We estimated abundance and richness of wind- and vertebrate-dispersed seeds using seed traps, and measured vegetation structure in four different edges between native forest and tree plantations (from recent to mature plantations). Edge effects affected seed rain patterns depending on both the degree of vegetation contrast between habitats and the dispersal agent. Wind-dispersed seeds showed a monotonic response to most edges, whereas responses of vertebrate-dispersed seeds varied among edges (monotonic, unimodal and neutral), consistent with the dispersers' behavior. High contrast edges (forest-recent plantation) showed unimodal edge response, while those created by low contrast edges (forest-mature plantation) exhibited monotonic responses (sigmoid). Differences on habitat suitability on vertebrate-dispersed seeds increased with edge contrast, while richness and abundance of vertebrate-dispersed seeds in the habitat interior showed the opposite pattern. The abundance of wind-dispersed seeds inside the studied habitats increased with edge contrast. The current analytical framework developed to explore responses of populations and communities to edge effects successfully described the response of seed dispersal. Furthermore, edge effects affected seed dispersal patterns differently depending on the dispersal agent and the contrast between habitats. Our findings contribute to the understanding of forest regeneration processes and may help increase the effectiveness of restoration efforts. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
author Vespa, Natalia Isabel
Zurita, Gustavo Andrés
Bellocq, Maria Isabel
author_facet Vespa, Natalia Isabel
Zurita, Gustavo Andrés
Bellocq, Maria Isabel
author_sort Vespa, Natalia Isabel
title Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina
title_short Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina
title_full Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina
title_fullStr Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Functional responses to edge effects: Seed dispersal in the southern Atlantic forest, Argentina
title_sort functional responses to edge effects: seed dispersal in the southern atlantic forest, argentina
publishDate 2014
url https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03781127_v328_n_p310_Vespa
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03781127_v328_n_p310_Vespa
work_keys_str_mv AT vespanataliaisabel functionalresponsestoedgeeffectsseeddispersalinthesouthernatlanticforestargentina
AT zuritagustavoandres functionalresponsestoedgeeffectsseeddispersalinthesouthernatlanticforestargentina
AT bellocqmariaisabel functionalresponsestoedgeeffectsseeddispersalinthesouthernatlanticforestargentina
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