Phylogenetic diversity and seed pod traits altered seed pod fate in disturbed environments

Understanding frugivory and seed dispersal is crucial in predicting plant population dynamics. Fruit fate can be altered by the environment, community diversity, and fruit traits. However, our understanding of how environmental drivers, including climate and disturbance, mediate the effect of seed traits and plant community diversity on fruit fate in dry tropical ecosystems is still limited. We conducted a removal experiment by tracking 493 pods of Prosopis africana, a species dispersed by rodents , in five tropical forest sites in Benin. Each seed pod was numbered, weighed, and measured for length, and then randomly distributed in a circular subplot beneath ten mother trees at each site. For each pod, we recorded whether it was removed from the subplot and estimated the proportion of the pod (based on the length) that was not eaten but removed from the subplot (seed pod dispersal). We also estimated the removal distance of partially eaten pods out of the subplot (dispersal distance) and the proportion of pods eaten (pod predation). We developed Bayesian models to test how the fate of seed pods is driven by pod traits and plant community diversity across contrasting environments. We found that seed pod dispersal agents act simultaneously as predators and dispersers, reflecting a dual-role interaction. Dispersal and predation were strongly context-dependent. Additionally, in communities with high phylogenetic diversity, pod predation was stronger in the highly disturbed sites of the dry region than in other environments. Our results highlight context-dependent seed pod dispersal, with disturbance severity and climate harshness facilitating seed pod predation. This differential seed fate across environmental gradients can shape transient population dynamics.