Life Sciences Commons^™

Avian Dispersal Networks, Metacommunity Structure, And Bryophyte Community Assemblages, Matthew Wojciech Chmielewski

Dissertations and Theses

Spatial processes have a profound influence on the structure and function of community assemblages. The dispersal of organisms from their place of origin to the location in which they live out their reproductive life is particularly important for plant communities, which generally cannot adjust their location post-germination. Connection between communities at a landscape scale can also influence species persistence, local and regional diversity, and functional turnover at the metacommunity scale. Animals have been shown to disproportionately deposit propagules in particular microsites in many plant species, facilitating the arrival of plants to appropriate niche-space. Birds are particularly notable seed dispersers, given …