Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Originally published in Science Express on 5 June 2008
Science 13 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5882, pp. 1502 - 1504
DOI: 10.1126/science.1158404
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Animal Versus Wind Dispersal and the Robustness of Tree Species to Deforestation

Daniel Montoya,1* Miguel A. Zavala,1,2 Miguel A. Rodríguez,1 Drew W. Purves3

Studies suggest that populations of different species do not decline equally after habitat loss. However, empirical tests have been confined to fine spatiotemporal scales and have rarely included plants. Using data from 89,365 forest survey plots covering peninsular Spain, we explored, for each of 34 common tree species, the relationship between probability of occurrence and the local cover of remaining forest. Twenty-four species showed a significant negative response to forest loss, so that decreased forest cover had a negative effect on tree diversity, but the responses of individual species were highly variable. Animal-dispersed species were less vulnerable to forest loss, with six showing positive responses to decreased forest cover. The results imply that plant-animal interactions help prevent the collapse of forest communities that suffer habitat destruction.

1 Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
2 Centro de Investigación Forestal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Carretera de la Coruña km 7, 5, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
3 Microsoft Research Cambridge, 7 J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0FB, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: daniel.montoya{at}alu.uah.es

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Landscape connectivity promotes plant biodiversity spillover into non-target habitats.
L. A. Brudvig, E. I. Damschen, J. J. Tewksbury, N. M. Haddad, and D. J. Levey (2009)
PNAS 106, 9328-9332
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Movement Ecology Special Feature: The movement ecology and dynamics of plant communities in fragmented landscapes.
E. I. Damschen, L. A. Brudvig, N. M. Haddad, D. J. Levey, J. L. Orrock, and J. J. Tewksbury (2008)
PNAS 105, 19078-19083
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)