Edge-mediated patterns of seed removal in experimentally connected and fragmented landscapes.
While biological reserves remain central to biodiversity conservation, the amount of area available for terrestrial reserves may be inadequate for many taxa. Biodiversity spillover - the promotion of diversity in matrix areas surrounding reserves - might help address this shortfall in reserve area. However, the mechanistic underpinning of spillover remains uninvestigated. Two fundamental processes - seed dispersal and establishment - might generate plant biodiversity spillover. Here, we investigate the role of establishment in promoting spillover by assessing post-dispersal seed predation, a key component of establishment, in the matrix of a replicated, large-scale habitat fragmentation experiment, where spillover is relevated around patches connected by landscape corridors. Our results show that matrix seed predation may constrain the distance of this spillover effect by reducing establishment: seed removal was least at the matrix edge and increased further into the matrix. We found some support for matrix seed predation underpinning previously reported landscape-level variation in spillover. Of the three species we investigated, two showed evidence for elevated seed predation in the matrix surrounding the unconnected patches around which the lowest levels of spillover occur. However, seed predation did not explain connectivity-enhanced spillover, suggesting that seed dispersal likely drives this pattern. Management activities that increase seed deposition in the matrix may have beneficial effects via spillover. Our work also illustrates that matrix-mediated gradients in seed predation may be widespread, but likely vary depending upon matrix composition and the ecological system under consideration. In fragmented landscapes, this gradient could impact the distribution, abundance, and spread of plant species.
- Research Organization:
- USDA Forest Service-Savannah River, New Ellenton, SC
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE EM Office of Program and Site Support (EM-50)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI09-00SR22188
- OSTI ID:
- 1029259
- Report Number(s):
- 11-08-P; LAECEH; TRN: US201124%%524
- Journal Information:
- Landscape Ecology, Vol. 26, Issue 10; ISSN 0921-2973
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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