Natural enemies, especially host-specific enemies, are hypothesised to facilitate the coexistence of plant species by disproportionately inflicting more damage at increasing host abundance. However, few studies have assessed such Janzen-Connell mechanisms on a scale relevant for coexistence and no study has evaluated potential top-down influences on the specialized pests. We quantified seed pre...

Functional extinction of once abundant species has frequently preceded understanding of their ecological roles. Consequently, our understanding of ecosystems is prone to shifting baselines because it often relies on observations made on depauperate species assemblages. In Australian deserts, current paradigms are that ants are the dominant granivores, mammals are unimportant seed predators and ...

The neotropical canopy tree Hymenaea courbaril L. (Caesalpiniaceae) has long been hypothesized to depend on mammals for the dispersal of its seeds. Hallwachs (1986) suggested that agouti (Dasyprocta spp., Rodentia) inherited the role of disperser of H. courbaril seeds from large Pleistocene mammals (Janzen & Martin 1982). She further postulated that agouti are currently the only effective dispe...

How the effects of biotic factors are moderated by abiotic factors, and their consequences for species interactions, is generally understudied in ecology. A key abiotic feature of forests is regular canopy disturbances that create temporary patches, or ‘‘gaps,’’ of above-average light availability. Co-occurring in lowland primary forest of Korup National Park (Cameroon), Microberlinia bisulcata...

In this review, we aim to examine the effect of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on spermatogenesis process taking into account a complex signaling pathway. Primarily, it is suggested that retinoic acid (RA) has a vital function in spermatogenesis process and it is considered to be essential for completion of spermatogonia into mature spermatozoa. In the present review, the key effects of retino...

In the context of climate change in recent years, fate woody plant seed has an important impact on forest regeneration. Seed mass is reproductive strategy plants. There are huge differences between gymnosperms (mainly conifers) and angiosperms (flowering plants) terms reproduction hydraulic strategies; however, little known about changes along aridity gradients taxonomical groups such as angios...

Myclobutanil is a systemic fungicide belonging to the triazole group, which frequently detected in environmental samples. Triticonazole, also fungicide, controls soil and seed-borne diseases it mainly used as seed-coating pesticide. Both myclobutanil triticonazole are considered persistent pollutants environment, raising concerns about their fate ecotoxicity potential. The purpose of present st...