Arabic Translation Work: Erik Stokstad Seed Disperser Declines Threaten Europe’s Plants [ Science, vol.386.Issue.6718. 11 Oct.r 2024. 136]

Abstract

When hunters wiped out most fruit eating birds in the tropical forest of Lambir Hills National Park on western Borneo by the 1990s, the skies grew duller—and in a few years so did the forest. Without birds to spread their seeds, the diversity of fruit-producing plants declined, illuminating the critical importance of seed dispersal for ecosystem health. The movement of seeds across the landscape in animals’ guts is a “glue that keeps ecological communities together,” says Jordi Bascompte, an ecologist at the University of Zurich. Now, ecosystems in temperate climates seem to be coming unglued as well. On p. 206, a team reports that at least one-third of European plant species could be in trouble because most of the animals that move their seeds are threatened or declining. The study is “brilliant and compelling” but also “alarming,” says Pedro Jordano, an ecologist at the University of Seville. The decline in seed dispersers—not just birds, but also mammals, reptiles, and ants—could jeopardize the ability of plants to expand their range to cope with climate change or recover after wildfire, he adds, especially in Europe’s highly fragmented landscap