Effectiveness of seed dispersal by foxes in areas with different human disturbances in southern Chile
Onaylis Triay-Limonta, Rocío Paleo-López, Camila J. Stuardo, Carolina S. Ugarte, Carlos E. Valdivia, Constanza Napolitano

TL;DR
Foxes in southern Chile help spread seeds of both native and exotic plants, but their effectiveness depends on landscape disturbance and plant species.
Contribution
The study reveals how foxes' seed dispersal effectiveness varies with landscape disturbance and plant species, impacting forest regeneration.
Findings
Native seeds were more common in feces from less disturbed areas, while exotic seeds showed variable patterns.
Germination rates were higher in less disturbed landscapes, but U. molinae thrived in disturbed areas.
Foxes effectively disperse seeds of native and exotic species, influencing forest regeneration and exotic spread.
Abstract
Frugivorous mammals play a key role in forest regeneration by dispersing seeds yet their effectiveness can vary with landscape disturbance and the native or exotic status of the plant species. In the temperate forests of southern Chile, we evaluated the seed dispersal efficiency (SDE) of foxes (Lycalopex spp.) for native and exotic fleshy-fruited plants across 10 sites spanning a gradient from less to more disturbed landscapes. SDE was assessed though two components: quantity (frequency of feces containing seeds and number of seeds per plant species) and quality (proportion of viable seeds and their germination success under natural conditions). Between November 2022 and July 2023, we collected 199 fox fecal samples, of which 131 contained seeds. In total, we recovered of 23,012 seeds from three native species (Aristotelia chilensis, Gaultheria mucronata, Ugni molinae) and three exotic…
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Taxonomy
TopicsEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies · Seed Germination and Physiology · Botanical Research and Chemistry
