DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6t1g1jx2j
title: Effects of canopy cover on fruiting intensity and fruit removal of a tropical invasive weed

description: Lantana camara (hereafter, Lantana) is among the worst invasive alien
 plants spread extensively across Africa, Australia and Asia at an alarming
 rate, posing significant challenges to conservation of native
 biodiversity. While, Lantana invasion is widely recognised to be more
 pronounced in open-canopy habitats (including deciduous forests, forest
 edges and gaps), the potential role of variation in seed dispersal across
 habitats varying in overstory canopy cover is poorly understood. Avian
 frugivores are among primary seed dispersers of the fleshy-fruited
 Lantana. We monitored 45 Lantana shrubs across a gradient of overstory
 canopy cover to determine the relationship between fruiting intensity and
 canopy cover. We watched 80 Lantana shrubs (240 h) across a canopy cover
 gradient to determine 1) differences in frugivore assemblage visiting
 Lantana across open- and closed-canopy habitats, 2) drivers of frugivore
 visitation on Lantana, and 3) relationship between seed disperser
 visitation rate and overstory canopy cover. We found that Lantana shrubs
 under low overstory canopy cover had higher fruit abundance than those in
 high canopy cover. Frugivore assemblage differed between Lantana shrubs in
 open- versus closed-canopy cover habitats. Drivers of frugivore visitation
 on Lantana varied across different frugivore species with a greater
 probability of occurrence of bulbuls (the primary seed dispersers of
 Lantana) on shrubs under low overstory canopy cover. Visitation rates of
 the effective seed dispersers were higher on shrubs under low overstory
 canopy cover. Thus, there was greater chances of dispersal of seeds in
 habitats with low overstory canopy cover. The study demonstrates variable
 fruiting intensity and fruit removal rate as a driver of differences in
 dispersal of seeds across habitats. It highlights greater vulnerability of
 open habitats to invasion and the need to prioritise Lantana management
 efforts in open habitats. Anthropogenic activities that lead to canopy
 openings (e.g. tree lopping and logging) likely facilitate Lantana
 invasion through greater fruit production and seed dispersal.
description: The data was collected at field sites in the Western Himalayan
 region. We marked Lantana shrubs (n = 45) in a gradient of canopy cover
 and monitored fruiting phenology fortnightly from Aug 2021- Jan 2022. We
 watched Focal Lantana shrubs (n = 80), each for a period of 3 hours (total
 observation hours = 240 hr). The identity, number and fruit handling
 behaviour of visitors on Lantana was recorded. Habitat (e.g., Tree
 density, shrub cover, canopy cover, understory height) and focal shrub
 features ( e.g., fruit crop size, shrub volume) were measured.  
description: The project contains data on variation in fruiting phenology,
 frugivore composition, and seed disperser visitation on invasive
 <em>Lantana camara </em>across open and forest habitats in the
 Western Himalayan region of India. The data was collected by Ms Yukti
 V.Taneja for her master's dissertation study in Wildlife Institute of
 India (WII) under the guidance of Dr. Navendu Page and R. Suresh Kumar of
 WII and Dr. Rohit Naniwadekar of Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF,
 India). Data were collected from open shrubland-grassland mosaics and
 <em>Shorea-robusta</em> dominated moist deciduous forest sites
 in and around the WII campus. The manuscript related to the study has been
 accepted in Forest Ecology and Management and will be available shortly.
 The title of the manuscript is "Effects of Canopy Cover on Fruiting
 Intensity and Fruit Removal of a Tropical Invasive Weed". The authors
 of this article are Yukti V. Taneja, Navendu V. Page, R. Suresh Kumar and
 Rohit Naniwadekar.  For a description of the columns
 corresponding to the data, see file:
 "README_for_datafiles_FEM_Taneja_etal" Data
 files (arranged alphabetically) : dat_glm.csv; dat_glmm.csv;
 dat_hmsc_sxy_pa.csv; dat_hmsc_tp.csv; dat_nmds.csv; dat_sde.csv;
 dat_spatial_autocorr.csv; dat_species_code.csv. See file "
 README_info_FEM_Taneja_etal" for project and datafile description
 summary.