生物谷報道：最新一期Science發(fā)表研究論文,，表明動物活動對植被繁衍有重大作用。
當樹木的種子隱藏在被動物食用的果實之中,，或是能搭乘皮毛或羽毛的便車的話,，這些種子容易著落在更好的種植場所，而由風所攜帶的種子則可能到達任何的地方,。這一新的發(fā)現(xiàn)似乎可以解釋為什么隨著周邊樹林的消失,，某些品種的樹木能夠存活下來，而另外一些樹木的生存則處在掙扎之中,，這可能對林木保護有所幫助,。
在一項對跨越西班牙大陸生長在極為多樣化的拼鑲式環(huán)境中近9萬個森林小區(qū)的研究中，Daniel Montoya及其同事發(fā)現(xiàn),，34個樹種中有24個樹種受到了林木喪失的負面影響,。然而，該研究團隊發(fā)現(xiàn),，不同的樹種具有令人吃驚的范圍寬泛的反應,，并且，周邊森林覆蓋的消失實際上對6個樹種還具有正面的影響,。例如,，結(jié)有果實的漆樹Rhus coriaria，以及一類核桃樹Juglans regia 已被證明在不斷稀疏的森林覆蓋中仍然能相對健壯地生長,。Montoya報告說,，這些樹木存活的一個關(guān)鍵是動物在播撒那些依然存活的樹木的種子。這些初步的發(fā)現(xiàn)指出,，將植物與動物的相互作用作為保護政策的基礎(chǔ)是多么重要,。它們還可能提示有一種策略可以用來預測個體物種對棲息地喪失及森林片斷化所作的反應。（生物谷www.bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science，DOI: 10.1126/science.1158404,，Daniel Montoya,，Drew W. Purvis
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: [email protected]
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.
