Using a decade-long exclosure experiment in Panama, we tested the hypothesis that
ground-dwelling vertebrate herbivores and seed predators are crucial determinants of …

“Empty forests” in which humans have driven large vertebrate species to extinction lack
myriad direct and indirect species interactions. This may alter key ecosystem processes …

This dissertation examines how terrestrial vertebrates, as seed dispersers, seed predators
and herbivores, influence plant functional trait composition in tropical forests and thereby …

Declines of large vertebrates in tropical forests may reduce dispersal of tree species that rely
on them, and the resulting undispersed seedlings might suffer increased distance‐and …

It has been suggested that tropical defaunation may unleash community-wide cascading
effects, leading to reductions in plant diversity. However, experimental evidence establishing …

In tropical forests, resource‐based niches and density‐dependent mortality are mutually
compatible mechanisms that can act simultaneously to limit seedling populations …

Defaunation alters trophic interactions between plants and vertebrates, which may disrupt
trophic cascades, thereby favoring a subset of plant species and reducing diversity. If …

The recruitment of seedlings from seeds is the key demographic transition for rain forest
trees. Though tropical forest mammals are known to consume many seeds, their effects on …

Vertical stratification (VS) is a widespread phenomenon in plant and animal communities in
forests and a key factor for structuring their species richness and biodiversity, particularly in …

Hunting has reduced or eliminated large-bodied vertebrates in many areas across the
tropics, contributing to the global process of defaunation. Elucidating the ecological …