One-third of European plant species could be in trouble due to declining seed disperser populations

Oct 14, 2024

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by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

A team of ecologists at the University of Coimbra, Aarhus University and the University of Bristol has found that approximately one-third of plant species in Europe are under threat of population reduction as the number of seed dispersals declines.

In their study, published in the journal Science, the group created a European-wide seed dispersal network and then compared it with disperser population numbers to learn more about the problems plants in Europe are facing.

Many plants rely on animals to carry their seeds to distant places to reduce competition and also to increase their range. In this new effort, the research team wondered what sort of impact plants in Europe might experience due to well-known reductions in population numbers of common dispersers such as birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.

They carried out an extensive study of the literature looking for instances of interactions between plants and European animal species that disperse their seeds. In so doing, they came up with a list of 592 species of plants native to Europe that are known to have evolved in tandem with dispersers.

They also found 398 animals that are known to disperse seeds. They noted that many such creatures were dispersers for more than one type of plant. To make sense of their data, the team created a list of more than 5,000 pairings of plants and their dispersers.

The research team next turned their attention to the dispersers and found that approximately one-third of them were ranked as threatened or as dwindling.

That led them to conclude that approximately one-third of plant species in Europe may be dwindling or disappearing as well. The researchers note that the next step for their team, or another one, is to look at changes in ecosystems across Europe that are already taking place as the numbers of dispersers has dwindled.

They also note that more research is required into plant/disperser pairs, exploring what is happening with rare plants or dispersers, including research in other parts of the world.

More information: Sara Beatriz Mendes et al, Evidence of a European seed dispersal crisis, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.ado1464

Journal information: Science

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