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Peer-reviewedCC BYNew Phytologist

Neglected seed dispersers and research compartmentalisation: how much do we know about what we don't know?

  • Sara Beatriz Mendes1
  • Esther Sebastián‐González2,3
  • Alistair G. Auffret4
  • Irene Castañeda5
  • Andy J. Green6
  • Casper H. A. van Leeuwen7
  • Christophe Baltzinger8
  • Ádám Lovas‐Kiss9,10
  • Isabel Donoso11,12
  • Ricardo Soares13
  • Rúben Heleno13
13 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology University of Göttingen Göttingen 37077 Germany
  2. 2Department of Ecology University of Alicante Alicante 03690 Spain
  3. 3‘Ramón Margalef’ Multidisciplinary Institute for the study of the Environment (IMEM) University of Alicante Alicante 03690 Spain
  4. 4Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Box 7044 Uppsala 75007 Sweden
  5. 5Ecology and Genetics of Conservation and Restoration, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO Université de Bordeaux Pessac 33615 France
  6. 6Department of Conservation Biology and Global Change Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), CSIC Américo Vespucio 26 Seville 41092 Spain
  7. 7Department of Ecology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen AJ 6525 the Netherlands
  8. 8Research Unit Forest Ecosystems INRAE Val de Loire Nogent‐sur‐Vernisson 45290 France
  9. 9Department of Planetary Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of One Health University of Debrecen Debrecen 4032 Hungary
  10. 10MTA‐HUN‐REN Centre for Ecological Research Momentum Dispersal Ecology Research Group Debrecen 4026 Hungary
  11. 11BC3 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
  12. 12Ikerbasque Basque Foundation for Science Plaza Euskadi 5 Bilbao 48009 Spain
  13. 13Centre for Functional Ecology, Associate Laboratory TERRA, Department of Life Sciences University of Coimbra Calçada Martim de Freitas Coimbra 3000‐456 Portugal
Open at sourceDOICite

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.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{mendes2026neglected,
  title = {{Neglected seed dispersers and research compartmentalisation: how much do we know about what we don't know?}},
  author = {Sara Beatriz Mendes and Esther Sebastián‐González and Alistair G. Auffret and Irene Castañeda and Andy J. Green and Casper H. A. van Leeuwen and Christophe Baltzinger and Ádám Lovas‐Kiss and Isabel Donoso and Ricardo Soares and Rúben Heleno},
  journal = {New Phytologist},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.1111/nph.71294},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71294},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Neglected seed dispersers and research compartmentalisation: how much do we know about what we don't know?
AU  - Sara Beatriz Mendes
AU  - Esther Sebastián‐González
AU  - Alistair G. Auffret
AU  - Irene Castañeda
AU  - Andy J. Green
AU  - Casper H. A. van Leeuwen
AU  - Christophe Baltzinger
AU  - Ádám Lovas‐Kiss
AU  - Isabel Donoso
AU  - Ricardo Soares
AU  - Rúben Heleno
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/28
JO  - New Phytologist
DO  - 10.1111/nph.71294
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71294
AB  - 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.
SN  - 0028-646X
SN  - 1469-8137
ER  -