Experimental simulation of pollinator decline causes community-wide reductions in seedling diversity and abundance.

Pollinator decline can disrupt the mutualistic interactions between plants and pollinators and potentially affect the maintenance of plant populations. However, there is still little knowledge on how changes in pollinator abundance can affect seedling recruitment, which is essential for population persistence. We experimentally simulated a community-wide reduction in pollinator availability during four years to examine its effects on seedling recruitment in 10 perennial herbs in a Norwegian hay meadow.

Enhancement of local species richness in tundra by seed dispersal through guts of muskox and barnacle goose.

The potential contribution of vertebrate-mediated seed rain to the maintenance of plant community richness in a High Arctic ecosystem was investigated. We analyzed viable seed content in dung of the four numerically most important terrestrial vertebrates in Northeast Greenland - muskox (Ovibos moschatus), barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis), Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) and Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus). High numbers of plant propagules were found in the dung of muskox and barnacle goose.