{
  "abstract": "Seed dispersal is critical for long-term ecosystem resilience. However, excessive compartmentalisation of research into particular disperser guilds (e.g. birds) hampers our understanding of their relative contributions to overall seed dispersal, risking erroneous conclusions and overlooking key information gaps. Here, we evaluate how information about over 11 000 interactions between 1902 plant and 455 animal species in Europe accumulated over 400 years, and estimate information completeness across disperser guilds, plant types, and dispersal mechanisms (endozoochory, epizoochory, synzoochory, and myrmecochory). Information regarding the plants dispersed by each group of animals ranges from 27% to 79% sample coverage, with birds of prey (27%), ants (28%), and rodents (31%) particularly understudied. Most research focussed on fleshy-fruited plants rather than dry-fruited plants, and most on internal dispersal as the mechanism (endozoochory). Interestingly, scientists' perceptions of what are the most neglected disperser guilds do not correlate with our sample coverage estimates, showing an inability of the scientific community to identify information gaps. We urge researchers to bridge research silos and to study overlooked guilds, mechanisms, and plant types. Implementing community-level synthesis studies that integrate data across guilds is essential for accurately predicting ecosystem responses to global change and developing effective conservation strategies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology University of Göttingen Göttingen 37077 Germany",
    "Department of Ecology University of Alicante Alicante 03690 Spain",
    "‘Ramón Margalef’ Multidisciplinary Institute for the study of the Environment (IMEM) University of Alicante Alicante 03690 Spain",
    "Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Box 7044 Uppsala 75007 Sweden",
    "Ecology and Genetics of Conservation and Restoration, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO Université de Bordeaux Pessac 33615 France",
    "Department of Conservation Biology and Global Change Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), CSIC Américo Vespucio 26 Seville 41092 Spain",
    "Department of Ecology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen AJ 6525 the Netherlands",
    "Research Unit Forest Ecosystems INRAE Val de Loire Nogent‐sur‐Vernisson 45290 France",
    "Department of Planetary Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of One Health University of Debrecen Debrecen 4032 Hungary",
    "MTA‐HUN‐REN Centre for Ecological Research Momentum Dispersal Ecology Research Group Debrecen 4026 Hungary",
    "BC3 Basque Centre for Climate Change Scientific Campus of the University of the Basque Country Sede Building 1, 1st floor Barrio Sarriena s/n Leioa 48940 Spain",
    "Ikerbasque Basque Foundation for Science Plaza Euskadi 5 Bilbao 48009 Spain",
    "Centre for Functional Ecology, Associate Laboratory TERRA, Department of Life Sciences University of Coimbra Calçada Martim de Freitas Coimbra 3000‐456 Portugal"
  ],
  "article_type": "review",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sara Beatriz Mendes",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3149-9743"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Esther Sebastián‐González",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7229-1845"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Alistair G. Auffret",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4190-4423"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Irene Castañeda",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2490-2178"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Andy J. Green",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1268-4951"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Casper H. A. van Leeuwen",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2833-7775"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Christophe Baltzinger",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2980-6238"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9
      ],
      "name": "Ádám Lovas‐Kiss",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8811-1623"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10,
        11
      ],
      "name": "Isabel Donoso",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0287-9026"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Ricardo Soares"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Rúben Heleno",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4808-4907"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a65d9mqwb911g.bib",
  "cited_by": 5,
  "doi": "10.1111/nph.71294",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "a65d9mqwb911g",
  "issns": [
    "0028-646X",
    "1469-8137"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71294",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1105|Plant and animal studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7162804605",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13326527",
  "pmid": "42210524",
  "published": "2026-05-28",
  "publisher": "Wiley",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a65d9mqwb911g.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T13:20:40Z",
      "native_id": "W7162804605",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71294"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1105|Plant and animal studies",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Neglected seed dispersers and research compartmentalisation: how much do we know about what we don't know?",
  "title_text": "Neglected seed dispersers and research compartmentalisation: how much do we know about what we don't know?",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:09Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a65d9mqwb911g",
  "venue": "New Phytologist",
  "versions": []
}