AI Article Synopsis
- A recent assessment highlights the critical conservation status of animals that play a key role in seed dispersal, indicating many species are at risk.* -
- The decline of these animal populations could have serious implications for ecosystem health and plant diversity, as they are essential for spreading seeds.* -
- The findings suggest an urgent need for conservation efforts to protect these animals, ensuring the natural processes of seed dispersal continue effectively.*
Article Abstract
First broad look at conservation status of animals that transport seeds raises alarms.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adt7206 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Circadian Analysis in Volatile Organic Compounds from Kunth Fruits and Their Potential Role in Attracting Bats.
ACS Omega
January 2025
Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Cel. Francisco H. dos Santos, 100, Jardim das Américas, CP 19081, 81531-980 Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
Piper fruits are one of the main dietary sources of , a fruit-eating bat largely responsible for dispersing their seeds. To investigate the mechanism of this plant-animal interaction, ripe and unripe fruits of were collected in the morning, afternoon, and night. The volatile organic compounds (VOC) were obtained through dynamic headspace (HS) and hydrodistillation (HD) and were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector and GC-MS, resulting in the identification of ninety-five compounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLong-term human influence on the demography and genetic diversity of the hyperdominant Bertholletia excelsa in the Amazon Basin.
Curr Biol
January 2025
Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanisation, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; School of Archaeology, University of the Philippines, Quezon City 1101, the Philippines. Electronic address:
The Amazon rainforest is characterized by a limited number of hyperdominant trees that play an oversized role in its ecosystems, nutrient cycle, and rainfall production. Some of these, such as the Brazil nut, appear to have been intensively exploited and dispersed by Indigenous populations since their earliest arrival in this part of South America around 13,000 years ago. However, the genetic diversity-and geographic structure-of these species remains poorly understood, as does their exact relationship with past human land use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDefensive Mechanisms of Likely Enhance Its Invasiveness as One of the World's Worst Alien Species.
Plants (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki, Kita 761-0795, Kagawa, Japan.
Kunth is native to tropical America and has invaded tropical and subtropical Asia and numerous Pacific Islands. It forms dense thickets and reduces native species diversity and populations in its introduced range. This invasive vine also seriously impacts many agricultural crops and is listed as one of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFruiting phenology affects the direction of vertical seed dispersal by mammals and birds across mountain ranges.
Oecologia
January 2025
Tohoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Morioka, Iwate, Japan.
Vertical seed dispersal towards higher or lower altitudes is an important process for plants' adaptation to climate change. Although many plants depend on animals for seed dispersal, studies on vertical seed dispersal by animals, determined by complex animal behaviours, are scarce. Previous studies hypothesised that animals inhabiting temperate regions disperse seeds uphill in spring/summer and downhill in autumn/winter due to their seasonal movement following the altitudinal gradients in food phenology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubsistence hunting impacts wildlife assemblages and functional ecology in tropical forests.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
Unsustainable wild meat hunting poses a significant threat to wildlife and tropical forest ecosystems. While high levels of extraction linked to commercial trade have received significant attention, the sustainability of subsistence hunting by Indigenous Peoples in Africa has been less studied. Understanding how changing lifestyles, particularly the sedentarisation of former hunter-gatherers, have affected the use of forest resources is crucial for wildlife conservation and livelihoods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!