Forest amount, not structure, influences fruit removal of two pioneer species in Atlantic forest remnants

Fruit removal is a key component of the seed dispersal process with direct consequences for plant recruitment. Anthropogenic disturbances might affect removal rates by changing frugivore diversity and their behavior. Here, we investigated the effects of local forest structure and landscape context on fruit removal of two common pioneer species of Melastomataceae family, Clidemia capitellata and Henriettea succosa in 14 Atlantic forest sites. We evaluated local forest structure, measured as canopy openness and conspecific density, and the amount of forest cover at the landscape scale measured in 2000 m buffer radius. Our results showed that the landscape context was more important than local features to explain fruit removal. The percentage of fruits removed from both species sharply decreases with forest loss and increases again in highly deforested landscapes. We demonstrate changes in fruit removal due to forest loss and suggest that both Melastomataceae species rely on the absence of other plant species, and consequently, in a less competitive environment to increase fruit removal and seed dispersal. in Portuguese is available with online material.