ArticleNature communications2021
Fungi and insects compensate for lost vertebrate seed predation in an experimentally defaunated tropical forest.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Frugivores flock, but do carnivores follow? Multi-trophic responses to masting in a tropical rainforest.Oecologia · 2026Article
- Declines of ebony and ivory are inextricably linked in an African rainforest.Science advances · 2025Article
- Ecological function maintained despite mesomammal declines.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Situating defaunation in an operational framework to advance biodiversity conservation.Bioscience · 2023Article
- Prehistoric pathways to Anthropocene adaptation: Evidence from the Red River Delta, Vietnam.PloS one · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Overhunting reduces important plant-animal interactions such as vertebrate seed dispersal and seed predation, thereby altering plant regeneration and even above-ground biomass. It remains unclear, however, if non-hunted species can compensate for lost vertebrates in defaunated ecosystems. We use a nested exclusion experiment to isolate the effects of different seed enemies in a Bornean rainforest. In four of five tree species, vertebrates kill many seeds (13-66%). Nonetheless, when large mammals are excluded, seed mortality from insects and fungi fully compensates for the lost vertebrate predation, such that defaunation has no effect on seedling establishment. The switch from seed predation by generalist vertebrates to specialist insects and fungi in defaunated systems may alter Janzen-Connell effects and density-dependence in plants. Previous work using simulation models to explore how lost seed dispersal will affect tree species composition and carbon storage may require reevaluation in the context of functional redundancy within complex species interactions networks.
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