Seed Dispersal by Animals in Forests
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 496
Special Issue Editors
Interests: seed dispersal; bird ecology; frugivore–plant network
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: seed dispersal; animal ecology; frugivore–plant network; rodent behavior
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Animal-mediated seed dispersal represents a pivotal ecological process that plays a fundamental role in forest regeneration dynamics. In recent decades, the intensification of anthropogenic land use practices, particularly cultivation activities, has substantially transformed secondary forest landscapes. These landscape modifications have precipitated a progressive decline in primary forest ecosystems, thereby exerting profound impacts on the sustainability of both plant and animal populations. For fruiting plant species, successful population regeneration is contingent upon two critical factors: the preservation of mutualistic seed dispersal interactions between plants and their animal vectors and the maintenance of functional diversity within seed disperser assemblages. In light of these ecological imperatives, the investigation of animal-mediated seed dispersal mechanisms has emerged as a central focus in contemporary ecological research. This Special Issue welcomes scholarly contributions that explore various aspects of animal-mediated seed dispersal processes in forest ecosystems, with a particular emphasis on elucidating the complex mutualistic relationships between plant species and their animal dispersers.
Prof. Dr. Ning Li
Prof. Dr. Xianfeng Yi
Dr. Zheng Wang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- seed dispersal
- frugivore
- birds
- seed dispersal networks
- forests
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