The ecological and evolutionary dynamics of inselbergs.

Islands are fundamental model systems in ecology, biogeography, and evolutionary biology. However, terrestrial islands, unlike their aquatic counterparts, have received comparatively less attention. Among these land islands, inselbergs (i.

MelastomaTRAITs 1.0: A database of functional traits in Melastomataceae, a large pantropical angiosperm family.

The recent availability of open-access repositories of functional traits has revolutionized trait-based approaches in ecology and evolution. Nevertheless, the underrepresentation of tropical regions and lineages remains a pervasive bias in plant functional trait databases, which constrains large-scale assessments of plant ecology, evolution, and biogeography. Here, we present MelastomaTRAITs 1.

Rock n' Seeds: A database of seed functional traits and germination experiments from Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation.

Advancing functional ecology depends fundamentally on the availability of data on reproductive traits, including those from tropical plants, which have been historically underrepresented in global trait databases. Although some valuable databases have been created recently, they are mainly restricted to temperate areas and vegetative traits such as leaf and wood traits. Here, we present Rock n' Seeds, a database of seed functional traits and germination experiments from Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation, recognized as outstanding centers of diversity and endemism.

Phylogenetic congruence between Neotropical primates and plants is driven by frugivory.

Seed dispersal benefits plants and frugivores, and potentially drives co-evolution, with consequences to diversification evidenced for, e.g., primates.

Revisiting florivory: an integrative review and global patterns of a neglected interaction.

Florivory is an ancient interaction which has rarely been quantified due to a lack of standardized protocols, thus impairing biogeographical and phylogenetic comparisons. We created a global, continuously updated, open-access database comprising 180 species and 64 families to compare floral damage between tropical and temperate plants, to examine the effects of plant traits on floral damage, and to explore the eco-evolutionary dynamics of flower-florivore interactions. Flower damage is widespread across angiosperms, but was two-fold higher in tropical vs temperate species, suggesting stronger fitness impacts in the tropics.

How much leaf area do insects eat? A data set of insect herbivory sampled globally with a standardized protocol.

Herbivory is ubiquitous. Despite being a potential driver of plant distribution and performance, herbivory remains largely undocumented. Some early attempts have been made to review, globally, how much leaf area is removed through insect feeding.

Seed Functional Traits Provide Support for Ecological Restoration and Conservation in the Threatened Amazon Ironstone Outcrop Flora.

Cangas (ironstone outcrops) host a specialized flora, characterized by high degree of edaphic endemism and an apparent lack of natural history knowledge of its flora. Due to intense pressure from iron ore mining this ecosystem is under threat and in need of restoration. We studied seed functional traits that are relevant for restoration, translocation and conservation in 48 species from cangas in eastern Amazon.

Frugivory and seed dispersal in a hyperdiverse plant clade and its role as a keystone resource for the Neotropical fauna.

Background And Aims: Much of our understanding of the ecology and evolution of seed dispersal in the Neotropics is founded on studies involving the animal-dispersed, hyperdiverse plant clade Miconia (Melastomataceae). Nonetheless, no formal attempt has been made to establish its relevance as a model system or indeed provide evidence of the role of frugivores as Miconia seed dispersers.

Methods: We built three Miconia databases (fruit phenology/diaspore traits, fruit-frugivore interactions and effects on seed germination after gut passage) to determine how Miconia fruiting phenology and fruit traits for >350 species interact with and shape patterns of frugivore selection.

Towards the flower economics spectrum.

Understanding how floral traits affect reproduction is key for understanding genetic diversity, speciation, and trait evolution in the face of global changes and pollinator decline. However, there has not yet been a unified framework to characterize the major trade-offs and axes of floral trait variation. Here, we propose the development of a floral economics spectrum (FES) that incorporates the multiple pathways by which floral traits can be shaped by multiple agents of selection acting on multiple flower functions.

Linking Plant Functional Ecology to Island Biogeography.

The study of insular systems has a long history in ecology and biogeography. Island plants often differ remarkably from their noninsular counterparts, constituting excellent models for exploring eco-evolutionary processes. Trait-based approaches can help to answer important questions in island biogeography, yet plant trait patterns on islands remain understudied.

Comment on "The global tree restoration potential".

Bastin 's estimate (Reports, 5 July 2019, p. 76) that tree planting for climate change mitigation could sequester 205 gigatonnes of carbon is approximately five times too large. Their analysis inflated soil organic carbon gains, failed to safeguard against warming from trees at high latitudes and elevations, and considered afforestation of savannas, grasslands, and shrublands to be restoration.

Water-use strategies in flowers from a neotropical savanna under contrasting environmental conditions during flowering.

Flowers require high amounts of water, which ultimately may compromise pollinator attractiveness under water limitation. Water-use and -conservation strategies in leaves from hot and dry ecosystems are well documented, yet little is known about mechanisms of water allocation in flowers, particularly in tropical savanna ecosystems. We evaluated traits related to corolla water status in two Kielmeyera species that differ in flowering phenology and flower size: larger-flowered K.

Fire and legume germination in a tropical savanna: ecological and historical factors.

Background And Aims: In many flammable ecosystems, physically dormant seeds show dormancy-break patterns tied to fire, but the link between heat shock and germination in the tropical savannas of Africa and South America remains controversial. Seed heat tolerance is important, preventing seed mortality during fire passage, and is usually predicted by seed traits. This study investigated the role of fire frequency (ecological effects) and seed traits through phylogenetic comparison (historical effects), in determining post-fire germination and seed mortality in legume species of the Cerrado, a tropical savanna-forest mosaic.

A research agenda for seed-trait functional ecology.

Trait-based approaches have improved our understanding of plant evolution, community assembly and ecosystem functioning. A major challenge for the upcoming decades is to understand the functions and evolution of early life-history traits, across levels of organization and ecological strategies. Although a variety of seed traits are critical for dispersal, persistence, germination timing and seedling establishment, only seed mass has been considered systematically.

Resilience and restoration of tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and grassy woodlands.

Despite growing recognition of the conservation values of grassy biomes, our understanding of how to maintain and restore biodiverse tropical grasslands (including savannas and open-canopy grassy woodlands) remains limited. To incorporate grasslands into large-scale restoration efforts, we synthesised existing ecological knowledge of tropical grassland resilience and approaches to plant community restoration. Tropical grassland plant communities are resilient to, and often dependent on, the endogenous disturbances with which they evolved - frequent fires and native megafaunal herbivory.

Handling by avian frugivores affects diaspore secondary removal.

The balance between the costs and benefits of fleshy fruit production depends on the feeding behavior of their seed dispersers, which might effectively disperse seeds to farther areas or drop beneath parent plants some diaspores they handle during frugivory bouts. Nevertheless, the consequences of variation in fruit handling by primary seed dispersers on the secondary removal of diaspores remains poorly understood. We conducted a field study to determine how variation in fruit handling by avian frugivores affects short-term secondary removal of Miconia irwinii (Melastomataceae) diaspores by the ground-dwelling fauna in campo rupestre vegetation, southeastern Brazil.

Timing of seed dispersal and seed dormancy in Brazilian savanna: two solutions to face seasonality.

Background And Aims: The relationship between fruiting phenology and seed dispersal syndrome is widely recognized; however, the interaction of dormancy classes and plant life-history traits in relation to fruiting phenology and seed dispersal is understudied. Here we examined the relationship between fruiting season and seed dormancy and how this relationship is modulated by dormancy classes, dispersal syndromes, seed mass and seed moisture content in a Brazilian savanna (cerrado).

Methods: Dormancy classes (non-dormancy and physical, morphological, morphophysiological, physiological and physiophysical dormancy) of 34 cerrado species were experimentally determined.

Intraspecific variation in fruit-frugivore interactions: effects of fruiting neighborhood and consequences for seed dispersal.

The extent of specialization/generalization continuum in fruit-frugivore interactions at the individual level remains poorly explored. Here, we investigated the interactions between the Neotropical treelet Miconia irwinii (Melastomataceae) and its avian seed dispersers in Brazilian campo rupestre. We built an individual-based network to derive plant degree of interaction specialization regarding disperser species.

How far do Neotropical primates disperse seeds?

Seed dispersal distance (SDD) is a vital component of vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal process: the average distance at which seeds are deposited away from the parent plant represents the starting template of plant regeneration. We present a simple model to explain and predict observed measures of average dispersal distance and we hypothesize that it is a consequence of how long seeds are retained in the disperser's gut, how rapidly the disperser moves per unit time and how twisted the animal travel path is relative to the straight-line distance moved away from the seed source. We retrieved data on dispersal distances from 26 published studies including nine primate species dispersing up to 112 plant species per study.

Assessing bias and knowledge gaps on seed ecology research: implications for conservation agenda and policy.

Sampling biases permeate ecological research and result in knowledge gaps that have vital consequences for conservation planning. The consequences of knowledge gaps on species identity and distribution (the Wallacean and Linnean shortfalls, respectively) have become apparent recently, but we know little about the extent that research biases and knowledge gaps on traits that influence species' niches (the Hutchinsonian shortfall) affect conservation policy. To examine whether knowledge of species' traits based on seed ecology is geographically, phylogenetically, and ecologically biased, we retrieved research data on seed germination, seed dormancy, seed dispersal, seed banks, seed predation, and seed removal from a database of 847 papers, 1648 species, and 5322 cases.

Phylogeny strongly drives seed dormancy and quality in a climatically buffered hotspot for plant endemism.

Background And Aims: Models of costs and benefits of dormancy (D) predict that the evolutionarily stable strategy in long-term stable environments is for non-dormancy (ND), but this prediction remains to be tested empirically. We reviewed seed traits of species in the climatically buffered, geologically stable and nutrient-impoverished campo rupestre grasslands in Brazil to test the hypothesis that ND is favoured over D. We examined the relative importance of life-history traits and phylogeny in driving the evolution of D and assessed seed viability at the community level.

Ants on plants: a meta-analysis of the role of ants as plant biotic defenses.

We reviewed the evidence on the role of ants as plant biotic defenses, by conducting meta-analyses for the effects of experimental removal of ants on plant herbivory and fitness with data pooled from 81 studies. Effects reviewed were plant herbivory, herbivore abundance, hemipteran abundance, predator abundance, plant biomass and reproduction in studies where ants were experimentally removed (n = 273 independent comparisons). Ant removal exhibited strong effects on herbivory rates, as plants without ants suffered almost twice as much damage and exhibited 50% more herbivores than plants with ants.