The importance of species interactions: impacts of animal-mediated seed dispersal on tropical tree demography and evolution

热带雨林是地球上最具生物多样性的生态系统，但人类正在迅速改变和破坏。了解这些森林中植物和动物的分布对于了解这些生态系统的结构，功能和多样性至关重要，并最终使我们能够做出明智的，基于科学的保护决策。生物体的扩散改变了当地的丰度和物种分布--这两个方面的研究定义了生态学的领域。对于大量的植物物种来说，个体的移动取决于与种子传播动物和种子捕食动物相互作用的结果。动植物之间这种复杂的相互作用决定了生物多样性的大规模格局和生态系统的基本特征。尽管扩散的研究至关重要，但我们对其生态和进化的理解仍然存在重大差距。

Tropical rainforests are the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth, yet are being rapidly altered and destroyed by humans. Understanding the dispersal of plants and animals within these forests is fundamental to understanding the structure, functioning, and diversity of these ecosystems, and will ultimately allow us to make informed, scientifically-based conservation decisions. Dispersal of organisms changes local abundance and alters species distributions -the two facets of study that define the very field of ecology. For vast numbers of plant species, movement of individuals is dependent on the outcome of interactions with both seed-dispersing and seed-predating animals. This complex interplay of animal-plant interactions determines large-scale patterns of biodiversity and fundamental traits of ecosystems. Despite the central importance of the study of dispersal, critical gaps remain in our understanding of its ecology and evolution.