This new version of DisPear allows to evaluate changes in seed dispersal effectiveness of Pyrus bourgaeana under scenarios of fragmentation and defaunation., Spanish Ministry of Science, Education and Universities (PGC2018-094808-B-I00), Peer reviewed

Although it is well recognized that the strength of plant-herbivore interactions can vary with plant sex and the distance and density of conspecific neighbors, no study has yet assessed their combined influence. Here, we filled this knowledge gap by focusing on the dioecious palm Chamaerops humilis L., and its two main herbivores, the invasive moth Paysandisia archon Burmeister and the feral goat Capra hircus L. We evaluated levels and spatial patterns of herbivory, as well as those of plant size and the number of inflorescences in two palm populations in Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). Our spatial point pattern analyses revealed that palms not affected by moth herbivory or goat florivory were spatially aggregated, goats fed more strongly upon inflorescences in palms with more neighbors but they consumed more leaves in isolated palms. Interestingly, we could reveal for the first time that plant sex is a key plant trait modulating neighborhood effects. For instance, whereas aggregated female palms experienced lower intensity of goat florivory than isolated ones, male palms showed the opposite pattern. Palm size and the number of inflorescences also showed sex-related differences, suggesting that sexual dimorphism is a key driver of the observed neighborhood effects on herbivory. Our study highlights the importance of considering relevant plant traits such as sex when investigating plant neighborhood effects, calling for further research to fully understand the dynamics governing plant-herbivore interactions in dioecious systems., PGC2018-094808-B-I00,Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities
FPU17/05463, Spanish Ministry of Universities, Peer reviewed

Datasets pertain to a study on the effect of the ungulate community composition on short distance seeds dispersal and the potential generation of spatial pattern of plant species distribution. The study was conducted at two grassland sites (Martinazo and Matasgordas) in the Doñana National Park (SW Spain). The sites were used by: i) a four ungulate species comunity (i.e., deer, wild boar, cattle and horse) and ii) a community highly dominated by deer. Both sites differed in the total number of herbaceous seeds dispersed and in the plant families most abundantly dispersed. In the four-species ungulate community, cow and deer were the most dissimilar pair in taxonomic composition of dispersed seeds. In addition, in this community, but not in the deer dominated one, we found significant spatial patterns of total seed dispersal (significant positive effect of short-distance feces aggregation, spatial covariance in seed content of two nearby feces, and significant correlation between seed content and density of nearby feces) as well as significant spatial pattern of dispersal of the seeds families preferentially associated with cow. These findings highlight a notable effect of the composition of disperser community on seeds dispersal and spatial structure at the short spatial scale of this study, Dataset consists of ten datafiles that include: i) information on seed content and taxonomic composition (families) in fecal samples collected in the two study sites (Matasgordas and Martinazo) and where the ungulate comunities are composed by a single disperser (deer in Matasgordas) or four dispersers (dear, cow, horse, wild board in Martinazo) and ii) information on spatial coordinates of fecal samples collected in the two sites (Martinazo and Matasgordas) as well as the seed content per sample (total seed content and seed content of the three most frequent plant families dispersed at each site)., Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICIU). España, PGC2018-094808-B-I00, Peer reviewed