Defaunation, driven by hunting and habitat fragmentation, poses a threat to wildlife in
tropical forests worldwide and is expected to have cascading effects on other organisms …

The diverse functional roles of over 6,000 species of extant mammals that range in body size
across eight orders of magnitude, from blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) to tiny …

Hemiepiphytic plants are defined by their ontogeny. They germinate on a host tree but later
establish root contact with the soil. Most hemiepiphytes remain structurally dependent on …

Ecosystem services (ESs) provided by animals are increasingly considered to be of
economic value and essential for the well-being of humans. Yet, despite representing the …

On-going fragmentation of tropical forest ecosystems and associated depletion of seed
dispersers threatens the long-term survival of animal-dispersed plants. These threats do not …

It is crucial to understand how Neotropical leaf-nosed bats select fruits, because their
choices strongly affect the seed dispersal process, especially of pioneer plants. We tested …

Mammals play an important role in seed germination through the ingestion of fruits and
seeds. Since seed germination is a basic step in seedling recruitment, understanding how …

Aim Ecological interactions are among the most important biotic factors influencing the
processes of speciation and extinction. Our aim was to test whether diversification rates of …

In plant–animal interactions, species are commonly labeled as either mutualists or
antagonists, based on the most common, most studied, or most easily observed outcome …

Defaunation alters trophic interactions between plants and vertebrates, which may disrupt
trophic cascades, thereby favoring a subset of plant species and reducing diversity. If …