Closing the seed dispersal loop: quantitatively linking plant-frugivore interactions to the recruitment cycle of plant communities

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The ability to quantitatively link frugivore activity to later recruitment is the key to the understanding of seed dispersal processes and plant demography, especially in view of environmental impact factors such as forest degradation. However, owing to the high complexity of the cascade of seed dispersal and recruitment processes, establishing this link has so far largely been impossible. The proposed project aims at filling this gap by quantitatively linking plant-frugivore interactions to recruitment of associated plant populations in the light of forest degradation. To achieve this, we will use a novel molecular technique that determines the identity of seed dispersers from fecal material enclosing dispersed seeds. We will combine this approach with classic matrix population models based on empirical assessments of a fleshy-fruiting plant community in the field. This will allow us to track the impact of frugivore activity on recruitment of a plant community in logged and old-growth forest. Our study system is the Bialowieza Primeval Forest (BPF) in Eastern Poland, the last pristine forest ecosystem of the European lowland. The forest provides a unique reference site, as species communities and ecological processes have evolved nearly uninterrupted since the last ice age. The project builds on comprehensive datasets from our previous studies on interactions among frugivore and plant communities in BPF, which show a significant loss of interactions and partners in plant-frugivore interactions in logged compared to old-growth forest. By assessing the impact of dispersers through recruitment, our project will allow for unique insights into the consequences of the loss of seed disperser species in degraded forest habitats for population dynamics in plant communities.