DOI: 10.5061/dryad.d2547d8cv
title: Data from: Linking landscape features, anthropogenic stressors, and mammal abundance to unveil seed removal patterns in tropical deforested landscapes

description: Land use changes and related anthropogenic pressures are responsible for
 biodiversity declines and threaten the provision of ecosystem services,
 especially in tropical forests. Seed dispersal and predation, for example,
 are especially important ecological processes for shaping plant diversity
 and composition, however, they can be strongly affected by such changes.
 Understanding factors that limit seed removal and, consequently, the final
 seed fate in human-modified landscapes is vital to enhancing our knowledge
 of ecosystem functioning. By using structural equation models, we
 evaluated the direct and indirect effects of landscape structure,
 anthropogenic stressors, and abundance of terrestrial mammals on seed
 removal patterns of Eschweilera ovata (Lecythidaceae), a common
 large-seeded species, in 18 Atlantic Forest fragments in southern Bahia,
 Brazil. We used camera traps to record potential seed-removing mammals and
 spool line experiments to assess the ultimate fate of the seeds. We reveal
 a direct effect of patch size on the percentage of seeds removed, with
 seed removal decreasing in larger forest fragments. Our results also
 demonstrated a negative effect of human population density on mammal
 abundance, although a direct effect of mammals on seed removal was not
 detected. We, therefore, recommend that anthropogenic pressures should be
 mitigated to enhance the recovery of mammals in fragmented forest
 landscapes and that further research incorporate other potential
 predictors to better elucidate the complex patterns of seed removal in
 tropical forests.
description: Landscape data were collected using MapBiomas, and mammal
 community and seed removal data were collected using camera traps and real
 experiments, respectively. All data were collected in Atlantic Forest
 fragments in the state of Bahia, Brazil.
description: # Linking landscape features, anthropogenic stressors, and mammal
 abundance to unveil seed removal patterns in tropical deforested
 landscapes
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d2547d8cv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d2547d8cv) ## Description of the data and file structure Data from: Linking landscape features, anthropogenic stressors, and mammal abundance to unveil seed removal patterns in tropical deforested landscapes ### Files and variables #### File: Rios\_et\_al\_Dryad.xlsx ##### Variables: | Site | **Identification of the Atlantic Forest fragment where the data were collected** | | :---------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | y | Latitude | | x | Longitude | | PS | Patch size in hectares | | FC\_500m | Forest Cover in 500 meters radius. Percentage of forest cover around the site | | FC\_1000m | Forest Cover in 1000 meters radius. Percentage of forest cover around the site | | FC\_2000m | Forest Cover in 2000 meters radius. Percentage of forest cover around the site | | FC\_4000m | Forest Cover in 4000 meters radius. Percentage of forest cover around the site | | FC\_6000m | Forest Cover in 6000 meters radius. Percentage of forest cover around the site | | ED\_500m | Edge Density in 500 meters radius. Amount of edge density around the site (meters/m²) | | ED\_1000m | Edge Density in 1000 meters radius. Amount of edge density around the site (meters/m²) | | ED\_2000m | Edge Density in 2000 meters radius. Amount of edge density around the site (meters/m²) | | ED\_4000m | Edge Density in 4000 meters radius. Amount of edge density around the site (meters/m²) | | ED\_6000m | Edge Density in 6000 meters radius. Amount of edge density around the site (meters/m²) | | NP\_500m | Number of patches in 500 meters radius. Number of forest fragments surrounding the site | | NP\_1000m | Number of patches in 1000 meters radius. Number of forest fragments surrounding the site | | NP\_2000m | Number of patches in 2000 meters radius. Number of forest fragments surrounding the site | | NP\_4000m | Number of patches in 4000 meters radius. Number of forest fragments surrounding the site | | NP\_6000m | Number of patches in 6000 meters radius. Number of forest fragments surrounding the site | | RD\_500m | Road density in 500 meters radius. Road density surrounding the site (meters/m²) | | RD\_1000m | Road density in 1000 meters radius. Road density surrounding the site (meters/m²) | | RD\_2000m | Road density in 2000 meters radius. Road density surrounding the site (meters/m²) | | RD\_4000m | Road density in 4000 meters radius. Road density surrounding the site (meters/m²) | | RD\_6000m | Road density in 6000 meters radius. Road density surrounding the site (meters/m²) | | HPD\_500m | Human Population Density in 500 meters radius. Human Population Density in the surrounding area (ind/m²) | | HPD\_1000m | Human Population Density in 1000 meters radius. Human Population Density in the surrounding area (ind/m²) | | HPD\_2000m | Human Population Density in 2000 meters radius. Human Population Density in the surrounding area (ind/m²) | | HPD\_4000m | Human Population Density in 4000 meters radius. Human Population Density in the surrounding area (ind/m²) | | HPD\_6000m | Human Population Density in 6000 meters radius. Human Population Density in the surrounding area (ind/m²) | | seed\_pred | Seeds that showed signs of predation by invertebrates during the reel experiments | | seed\_remov | Seeds removed during spool experiments | | seed\_inta | Intact seeds, with no signs of predation, during the reel experiments | | abun\_disp | Abundance of seed-dispersing mammals obtained from camera-trap data | | effort | Sampling Effort (trap-days/site) |