Primate Seed Dispersal: Old and New Challenges

Abstract

Primate seed dispersal plays crucial roles in many ecological processes at various levels of biological organization: from plant population genetics and demography to community assembly and ecosystem function. Although research on primate seed dispersal has advanced significantly in the last 20–30 years, many aspects are still poorly understood. Here, we discuss some new challenges that we need to address, as well as some old ones that still need our attention, highlighting examples from the Neotropics. Despite new analytical tools from network theory, research on primate seed dispersal rarely takes a community-wide approach, thus limiting our understanding of its evolutionary, ecological, and conservation implications. Of particular relevance for conservation are changes caused by landscape-scale processes (e.g., forest loss and fragmentation), but these effects need to be assessed using a landscape approach, which is currently absent in primate seed dispersal research. Agroecosystems can play a key role in maintaining primate seed dispersal in anthropogenic landscapes, but this topic remains poorly studied. Primate seed dispersal research will need to play a role in refaunation projects aimed at restoring plant–animal interactions. Old challenges that we still need to address include the long-term effects of primate declines on plant populations and communities, and the role of primate seed dispersal in the regeneration of degraded habitats. If we take advantage of all tools provided by modern science, from powerful methods of data analyses to molecular techniques, and combine them with strong multidisciplinary collaborations, the future of primate seed dispersal research will indeed be exciting.