INVESTIGADORES
NOVARO andres Jose
artículos
Título:
Habitat fragmentation disrupts a plant-disperser mutualism in the temperate forest of South America
Autor/es:
RODRIGUEZ-CABAL, M., M.A. AIZEN, AND A.J. NOVARO
Revista:
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
Editorial:
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Referencias:
Año: 2007 vol. 139 p. 195 - 202
ISSN:
0006-3207
Resumen:
The disruption of dispersal mutualisms may have profound consequences for seedling
recruitment, plant demography, and population persistence, with potential cascading
effects throughout the rest of the community. In the temperate forest of South America,
the seeds of the mistletoe Tristerix corymbosus, a proposed key species, are dispersed solely
by the endemic marsupial Dromiciops gliroides. In three sites that included two contrasting
habitats, one fragmented and the other not, we assessed effects of forest fragmentation on
marsupial abundance, fruit removal, seed dispersal and seedling recruitment rates.We also
compared the age structure of mistletoe populations between fragmented and non-fragmented
forest habitats. Fragmentation affected negatively marsupial abundance, fruit
removal, seed dispersal, and seedling recruitment. The local extinction of D. gliroides was
associated with the complete disruption of mistletoe seed dispersal. Mistletoe populations
in fragmented forests exhibited a deficiency in juveniles because of a lack of recruitment.
Thus, effects of forest fragmentation on this dispersal mutualism have clear demographic
consequences, which may compromise the survival of mistletoe populations.