Linking pollen limitation and seed dispersal effectiveness.
Ecol Lett
; 27(1): e14347, 2024 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38073068
Seed production and dispersal are crucial ecological processes impacting plant demography, species distributions and community assembly. Plant-animal interactions commonly mediate both seed production and seed dispersal, but current research often examines pollination and seed dispersal separately, which hinders our understanding of how pollination services affect downstream dispersal services. To fill this gap, we propose a conceptual framework exploring how pollen limitation can impact the effectiveness of seed dispersal for endozoochorous and myrmecochorous plant species. We summarize the quantitative and qualitative effects of pollen limitation on plant reproduction and use Optimal Foraging Theory to predict its impact on the foraging behaviour of seed dispersers. In doing so, we offer a new framework that poses numerous hypotheses and empirical tests to investigate links between pollen limitation and seed dispersal effectiveness and, consequently, post-dispersal ecological processes occurring at different levels of biological organization. Finally, considering the importance of pollination and seed dispersal outcomes to plant eco-evolutionary dynamics, we discussed the implications of our framework for future studies exploring the demographic and evolutionary impacts of pollen limitation for animal-dispersed plants.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Dispersão de Sementes
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Ecol Lett
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil
País de publicação:
Reino Unido