Matrix effects on plant-frugivore and plant-predator interactions in forest fragments

• Published in: Landscape ecology Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 125 - 135
• Main Authors: Herrera, José M, García, Daniel, Morales, Juan M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 2011; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal populations; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Birds; Cantabrian range; Community ecology; Connectivity; Crataegus monogyna; Ecological function; Ecology; ecosystems; Environmental Management; food availability; Food chains; Food supply; Forest fragmentation; Forestry; Forests; frugivores; Frugivory; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; General forest ecology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; habitat fragmentation; Habitats; Hierarchical Linear Models; Landscape Ecology; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; landscapes; Life Sciences; linear models; Matrix effects; Nature Conservation; Pasture; pastures; Plant populations; Plant-animal interactions; population dynamics; Predation; Research Article; Resource availability; rodents; seed predation; Spain; Sustainable Development; temporal variation; trees; Spain; Europe; Forest fragmentation; Seed predation; Hierarchical Linear Models; Matrix effects; Connectivity; Cantabrian range; Frugivory; Plant-animal interactions; Spain; Forests; Seeds; Interaction; Frugivorous; Linear model; Fragmentation; Animal plant relation; Predator; Predation
• ISSN: 0921-2973; 1572-9761
• DOI: 10.1007/s10980-010-9541-7

Structural features of both habitat remnants and surrounding matrix can be important for explaining plant population dynamics and ecosystem functions in human-impacted landscapes. However, little is known about how the structural features of the adjacent matrix affect biotic interactions and whether such context effects are subject to temporal variations. Using the hawthorn Crataegus monogyna in northern Spain, we studied matrix effects on two sequential plant-animal interactions, frugivory by birds and postdispersal seed predation by rodents. Using Hierarchical Linear Models, we compared the magnitude of both interactions on trees located in two patch types that strongly differed in structural features of the adjacent matrix habitat: patches totally surrounded by a degraded, structurally contrasted pastures (unconnected patches), and trees growing in patches adjacent to a lowly degraded, structurally similar mature forests (connected patches). We compared outcomes for 2005 and 2006, which were years with strong differences in community-wide fruit and seed abundance. Frugivory rate did not differ between patch types in either year, likely related to high mobility of birds. Seed predation rates were higher in unconnected patches than in connected ones, but only in 2005. We conclude that strong interannual fluctuations in resource availability are not rare in temperate systems and that recruitment rates could be frequently reduced within unconnected patches, thus collapsing plant regeneration processes of hawthorn populations. Overall, our results suggest that generalizations about potential effects of the matrix on plant-animal interactions within remnant patches must consider: (1) species-specific habitat responses of the organisms, (2) suitability of neighbouring habitats in terms of food supply, and (3) temporal variations in plant-resource availability for interacting animals.