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Published Online June 5, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1158404

Reports

Submitted on March 28, 2008
Accepted on May 15, 2008

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

Daniel Montoya 1*, Miguel A. Zavala 2, Miguel A. Rodríguez 1, Drew W. Purves 3

1 Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
2 Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.; 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.
Daniel Montoya , E-mail: daniel.montoya{at}alu.uah.es

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.


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