DOI: 10.5061/dryad.97q0n06
title: Data from: Seed dispersal by dispersing juvenile animals: a source of functional connectivity in fragmented landscapes

description: Juvenile animals generally disperse from their birthplace to their future
 breeding territories. In fragmented landscapes, habitat-specialist species
 must disperse through the anthropogenic matrix where remnant habitats are
 embedded. Here, we test the hypothesis that dispersing juvenile frugivores
 leave a footprint in the form of seed deposition through the matrix of
 fragmented landscapes. We focused on the Sardinian warbler (Sylvia
 melanocephala), a resident frugivorous passerine. We used data from field
 sampling of bird-dispersed seeds in the forest and matrix of a fragmented
 landscape, subsequent disperser identification through DNA-barcoding
 analysis, and data from a national ringing programme. Seed dispersal by
 Sardinian warblers was confined to the forest most of the year, but
 warblers contributed a peak of seed-dispersal events in the matrix between
 July and October, mainly attributable to dispersing juveniles. Our study
 uniquely connects animal and plant dispersal, demonstrating that juveniles
 of habitat-specialist frugivores can provide mobile-link functions
 transiently, but in a seasonally predictable way.
description: Seed rain
 contributionsRelative and absolute
 contributions – according to DNA-barcoding identifications – of Sardinian
 warblers (Sylvia melanocephala) and other bird species to the bimonthly
 magnitude of seed deposition per seed trap, bimonth and year, of different
 plant species.seed_rain_contr_syl_mel_and_other_spp.csvSeed rain dataTotal number of seeds (all species pooled; zeros included) per seed trap, bimonth and year, estimated as dispersed by Sardinian warblers (and other bird species) according to DNA-barcoding identifications. This is the dataset associated to Figure 1c and Figure 2.seed_rain_syl_mel_and_other_spp.csvHabitat classification ringing dataClassification of the original habitat types associated to each ringing capture into habitats analogous to the forest (i.e. woodland habitats) and matrix (i.e. open habitats) of our study landscape. The original ringing data used in this study can be requested to SEO/BirdLife (www.anillamientoseo.org).classification_habitats_ringing_data.csvRinging captures & Mean seed rainAccumulated number of bimonthly ringing captures of juvenile and adult Sardinian warblers (Sylvia melanocephala) between 1975 and 2018, in a subset of the warm Spanish provinces dominated by the thermo- and meso-Mediterranean bioclimate, in relation to bimonthly mean seed rain dispersed by Sardinian warblers in our study landscape (data associated to Figure 2 in the article). The original ringing data used in this study can be requested to SEO/BirdLife (www.anillamientoseo.org).ringing_captures_vs_mean_seed_rain.csvDNA barcoding dataSeed-deposition samples (bird droppings with seeds, defecated or regurgitated) analysed through DNA barcoding to identify the bird species responsible of seed dispersal events. Disperser identifications are classified as Sardinian warbler (Sylvia melanocephala) versus other bird species. Only those samples that were dispersed by Sardinian warblers (i.e. the ones used in this study) include fields for sequence, sequence length and source of barcoding identification.dna_barcoding_data.csv