Forest edges have high conservation value for bird communities in mosaic landscapes

A major conservation challenge in mosaic landscapes is to understand how trait‐specific responses to habitat edges affect bird communities, including potential cascading effects on bird functions providing ecosystem services to forests, such as pest control. Here, we examined how bird species richness, abundance and community composition varied from interior forest habitats and their edges into adjacent open habitats, within a multi‐regional sampling scheme. We further analyzed variations in Conservation Value Index (CVI), Community Specialization Index (CSI) and functional traits across the forest‐edge‐open habitat gradient. Bird species richness, total abundance and CVI were significantly higher at forest edges while CSI peaked at interior open habitats, i.e., furthest from forest edge. In addition, there were important variations in trait‐ and species‐specific responses to forest edges among bird communities. Positive responses to forest edges were found for several forest bird species with unfavorable conservation status. These species were in general insectivores, understorey gleaners, cavity nesters and long‐distance migrants, all traits that displayed higher abundance at forest edges than in forest interiors or adjacent open habitats. Furthermore, consistently with predictions, negative edge effects were recorded in some forest specialist birds and in most open‐habitat birds, showing increasing densities from edges to interior habitats. We thus suggest that increasing landscape‐scale habitat complexity would be beneficial to declining species living in mosaic landscapes combining small woodlands and open habitats. Edge effects between forests and adjacent open habitats may also favor bird functional guilds providing valuable ecosystem services to forests in longstanding fragmented landscapes.     

基于功能性状的中亚热带岩溶常绿落叶阔叶混交林物种多样性维持研究

理解植物功能性状和功能实体在森林群落的分布,有助于探讨物种丧失对森林生态系统功能、冗余和恢复力的影响。为了解脆弱的岩溶石山森林在应对生物多样性丧失的生态系统反馈,对桂林岩溶石山两块1hm²的常绿落叶阔叶混交林的木本植物数据进行了分析。包括基于功能性状计算功能多样性、构建功能实体计算功能冗余以及采用Pearson相关分析和Mantel检验评估物种多样性指标在生态系统的维持机制。结果显示:(1)青冈+大叶榉树群落的功能多样性指标均低于鱼骨木+青冈+圆叶乌桕群落,且两个群落间功能均匀度不相关(P ＞ 0.05),功能丰富度、功能离散度和Rao''s二次熵呈现极显著相关性(P ＜ 0.001),功能分散度呈现显著相关性(P ＜ 0.05)。(2)两个群落的物种丰富度与功能冗余指标表现出相似的线性关系,即物种丰富度与功能实体等级、功能冗余、功能超冗余呈正相关,与功能脆弱性呈负相关关系。(3)不同植物功能性状间、不同功能多样性指标间和不同功能冗余指标间的相关性较强,功能多样性指标和功能冗余指标间无显著相关性,但功能性状与功能多样性指标、功能性状与功能冗余指标均存在不同程度的相关性。而在功能实体与物种多样性指标的相关性方面,呈现出同物种丰富度与物种多样性指标相似的显著度。另外,物种多度与物种丰富度、功能分散度、功能离散度、Rao''s二次熵及功能脆弱性均显著相关。总之,在岩溶石山常绿落叶阔叶混交林中,高功能多样性的群落存在高功能冗余的现象,但功能多样性和功能冗余是相互独立的因素;物种丰富度高的群落所提供的保险效应无法抵消其生态系统的脆弱性。因此,不能仅通过保护物种丰富度来维持生态系统的特有功能,还应充分考虑多度对生态系统功能的贡献,以更有效地实现对岩溶石山森林生态系统的保护。     

山西五鹿山森林群落木本植物功能多样性

通过选取群落中木本植物种子的扩散方式、传粉方式、植株高度和盖度等13个功能性状,计算出群落的6个功能多样性指数:功能性状距离、功能性状平均距离、功能体积、功能均匀度、功能分散指数和Rao二次熵指数,结合群落物种丰富度指数、Shannon-Wiener指数和物种均匀度指数对山西五鹿山森林群落木本植物功能多样性进行研究。结果表明:(1)功能性状距离、功能性状平均距离、功能体积与物种丰富度、Shannon-Wiener指数显著正相关;功能均匀度与Shannon-Wiener指数、物种均匀度指数显著正相关;功能分散指数、Rao二次熵指数与物种均匀度指数、Shannon-Wiener指数显著正相关;(2)功能多样性的差异很大程度上是由于物种差异所引起的;(3)6个功能多样性指数可分为三类:功能性状距离、功能性状平均距离、功能体积为功能丰富度指数;功能均匀度为功能均匀度指数;功能分散指数和Rao二次熵指数为功能离散度指数。该分类结果符合指数的计算方法和生态学意义,以及相互独立的标准。     

Trait‐based approaches to analyze links between the drivers of change and ecosystem services: Synthesizing existing evidence and future challenges

Understanding the responses of biodiversity to drivers of change and the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem properties and ecosystem services is a key challenge in the context of global environmental change. We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the scientific literature linking direct drivers of change and ecosystem services via functional traits of three taxonomic groups (vegetation, invertebrates, and vertebrates) to: (1) uncover trends and research biases in this field; and (2) synthesize existing empirical evidence. Our results show the existence of important biases in published studies related to ecosystem types, taxonomic groups, direct drivers of change, ecosystem services, geographical range, and the spatial scale of analysis. We found multiple evidence of links between drivers and services mediated by functional traits, particularly between land‐use changes and regulating services in vegetation and invertebrates. Seventy‐five functional traits were recorded in our sample. However, few of these functional traits were repeatedly found to be associated with both the species responses to direct drivers of change (response traits) and the species effects on the provision of ecosystem services (effect traits). Our results highlight the existence of potential “key functional traits,” understood as those that have the capacity to influence the provision of multiple ecosystem services, while responding to specific drivers of change, across a variety of systems and organisms. Identifying “key functional traits” would help to develop robust indicator systems to monitor changes in biodiversity and their effects on ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services supply.     

Ants as ecological indicators of rainforest restoration: Community convergence and the development of an Ant Forest Indicator Index in the Australian wet tropics

Ecosystem restoration can help reverse biodiversity loss, but whether faunal communities of forests undergoing restoration converge with those of primary forest over time remains contentious. There is a need to develop faunal indicators of restoration success that more comprehensively reflect changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function. Ants are an ecologically dominant faunal group and are widely advocated as ecological indicators. We examine ant species and functional group responses on a chronosequence of rainforest restoration in northern Australia, and develop a novel method for selecting and using indicator species. Four sampling techniques were used to survey ants at 48 sites, from grassland, through various ages (1–24 years) of restoration plantings, to mature forest. From principal components analysis of seven vegetation metrics, we derived a Forest Development Index (FDI) of vegetation change along the chronosequence. A novel Ant Forest Indicator Index (AFII), based on the occurrences of ten key indicator species associated with either grassland or mature forest, was used to assess ant community change with forest restoration. Grasslands and mature forests supported compositionally distinct ant communities at both species and functional levels. The AFII was strongly correlated with forest development (FDI). At forest restoration sites older than 5–10 years that had a relatively closed canopy, ant communities converged on those of mature rainforest, indicating a promising restoration trajectory for fauna as well as plants. Our findings reinforce the utility of ants as ecological indicators and emphasize the importance of restoration methods that achieve rapid closed‐canopy conditions. The novel AFII assessed restoration status from diverse and patchily distributed species, closely tracking ant community succession using comprehensive species‐level data. It has wide applicability for assessing forest restoration in a way that is relatively independent of sampling methodology and intensity, and without a need for new comparative data from reference sites.     

Functional diversity and traits assembly patterns of lichens as indicators of successional stages in a tropical rainforest

Understanding community assembly patterns with regard to functional traits, which may be common to different species, allows us to compare ecological communities in a wider range of environmental and phytogeographic conditions. Moreover, a functional approach may facilitate the comprehension of the relation between biotic changes and ecosystem functions in complex systems such as tropical forests. Considering the lack of information in relation to the influence of environmental conditions on lichen functional traits, on lichen functional patterns in tropical forests and the potential usage of this approach in bioindication studies, this paper aims at (i) determining the functional structure of the lichen communities along the forest succession gradient, (ii) assessing the relation of lichen functional traits to this gradient and (iii) verifying the potential of using lichen functional traits as indicators of successional stages in tropical rainforests. Lichens were sampled in 24 sampling units of three successional stages (6–10; 12–20; and 40–60 years of recovering). The results corroborated our main hypothesis that the functional structure of the lichen communities responds to structural changes along a forest regeneration gradient. Growth forms (foliose, fruticose and crustose) as well as some reproductive trait states (lirella, isidia and perithecia) were the most suitable lichen traits to be used as indicators of forest succession in the southern edge of the Atlantic Rainforest. Lirella, fruticose and foliose were more related to earlier successional stages; isidia was more related to intermediate stages, while perithecia and crustose were more related to older stages. These results reinforce the ability of lichens to be used as bioindicators of forest conditions.     

A functional trait perspective on plant invasion

Background and Aims

Global environmental change will affect non-native plant invasions, with profound potential impacts on native plant populations, communities and ecosystems. In this context, we review plant functional traits, particularly those that drive invader abundance (invasiveness) and impacts, as well as the integration of these traits across multiple ecological scales, and as a basis for restoration and management.

Scope

We review the concepts and terminology surrounding functional traits and how functional traits influence processes at the individual level. We explore how phenotypic plasticity may lead to rapid evolution of novel traits facilitating invasiveness in changing environments and then ‘scale up’ to evaluate the relative importance of demographic traits and their links to invasion rates. We then suggest a functional trait framework for assessing per capita effects and, ultimately, impacts of invasive plants on plant communities and ecosystems. Lastly, we focus on the role of functional trait-based approaches in invasive species management and restoration in the context of rapid, global environmental change.

Conclusions

To understand how the abundance and impacts of invasive plants will respond to rapid environmental changes it is essential to link trait-based responses of invaders to changes in community and ecosystem properties. To do so requires a comprehensive effort that considers dynamic environmental controls and a targeted approach to understand key functional traits driving both invader abundance and impacts. If we are to predict future invasions, manage those at hand and use restoration technology to mitigate invasive species impacts, future research must focus on functional traits that promote invasiveness and invader impacts under changing conditions, and integrate major factors driving invasions from individual to ecosystem levels.     

Patterns of functional diversity of two trophic groups after canopy thinning in an abandoned coppice

Coppice abandonment had negative consequences for the biodiversity of forest vegetation and several groups of invertebrates. Most coppicing restoration studies have focused only on a single trophic level despite the fact that ecosystems are characterized by interactions between trophic levels represented by various groups of organisms. To address the patterns of functional diversity in the perspective of coppicing restoration, we studied the short-term effects of conservation-motivated tree canopy thinning in an abandoned coppice with standards in Central Europe, a region where such attempts have been rare so far. The functional diversity of vascular plants and spiders, chosen as two model trophic groups within the forest ecosystem, was compared between thinned and control forest patches. To characterize functional patterns, we examined several functional traits. These traits were assigned to two contrasting categories: response traits reflecting a change of environment (for both vascular plants and spiders) and effect traits influencing the ecosystem properties (only for vascular plants). Functional diversity was analysed by CCA using two measures: community-weighted means (CWM) and Rao’s quadratic diversity (RaoQ). CCA models revealed that the canopy thinning had a positive effect on the diversity of the response traits of both trophic groups and negatively influenced the diversity of effect traits. In addition, we found distinct seasonal dynamics in functional diversity of the spider communities, which was probably linked to leaf phenology of deciduous trees. We conclude that canopy thinning affected functional diversity across trophic groups during the initial phase of coppicing restoration. With necessary precautions, careful canopy thinning can be effectively applied in the restoration of functional diversity in abandoned coppices.     

Effects of biodiversity,stand factors and functional identity on biomass and productivity during the restoration of subtropical forests in Central China

恢复梯度上华中亚热带森林生物多样性、林分因子及功能特性对生物量、生产力的影响 草地群落上进行的控制实验大都发现生物多样性对生态系统功能有显著促进作用。然而,在天然林中,多样性与林分因子、群落功能特性的相对作用大小仍存在争议。本文在森林恢复梯度上,研究这3类因素对生物量和生产力的相对影响。我们在湖北神农架设置了处于不同恢复阶段的24块(600 m²)亚热 带森林样地,计算了林分生物量和生产力。选择5个关键的植物功能性状,并计算了群落的功能多样性(功能丰富度、功能均匀度和功能离散度)和性状的加权平均值(CWM)。使用一般线性模型(GLMs)、变异分离等方法探究林分因子(密度、林龄、群落最大树高等)、功能特性、物种和功能多样性对生物量和生产力的相对重要性。研究结果表明,随着森林恢复,林分生物量和生产力显著增加,群落物种丰富度显著增加,而功能离散度显著降低。变异分离结果表明,多样性对生物量和生产力的单独效应不显著,但可能通过与林分因子和功能特性的协同效应来影响生物量和生产力。总体而言,我们发现林分因子对亚热带森林生物量和生产力的影响最大,功能特性显著影响生产力,但不影响生物量。这些结果说明,在森林经营中,调整林分结构和群落物种特性是提高森林碳储量和固碳潜力的有效途径。     

Potential trajectories of old‐growth Neotropical forest functional composition under climate change

Quantifying relationships between plant functional traits and abiotic gradients is valuable for evaluating potential responses of forest communities to climate change. However, the trajectories of change expected to occur in tropical forest functional characteristics as a function of future climate variation are largely unknown. We modeled community level trait values of Costa Rican rain forests as a function of current and future climate, and quantified potential changes in functional composition. We calculated per‐plot community weighted mean (CWM) trait values for leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content, and wood basic specific gravity (WSG), for tree and palm species in 127 0.25 ha plots. We modeled the response of CWM traits to current temperature and precipitation gradients using generalized additive modeling. We then predicted and mapped CWM traits values under current and future climate, and quantified potential changes under a global warming scenario (RCP8.5, year 2050). We calculated the area within the multi trait functional space occupied by forest plots under both current and future climate, and determined potential changes in functional space occupied by forest plots. Overall, precipitation predicted CWM traits better than temperature. Models indicated increases in CWM SLA, N and P, and a decrease in CWM LDMC under climate change. Lowland forest communities converged on a single direction of change towards more acquisitive CWM trait values, indicating a change in forest functional composition resulting from a changed climate. Functional space occupied by forest plots was reduced by 50% under the future climate. Functional composition changes may have further effects on forests ecosystem services. Assessing functional trait spatial‐gradients can help bridge the gap between species‐based biogeography and biogeochemical approaches to strengthen biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation efforts.     

Functional importance of avian seed dispersers changes in response to human-induced forest edges in tropical seed-dispersal networks

Although seed-dispersal networks are increasingly used to infer the functioning of ecosystems, few studies have investigated the link between the properties of these networks and the ecosystem function of seed dispersal by animals. We investigate how frugivore communities and seed dispersal change with habitat disturbance and test whether relationships between morphological traits and functional roles of seed dispersers change in response to human-induced forest edges. We recorded interaction frequencies between fleshy fruited plants and frugivorous bird species in tropical montane forests in the Bolivian Andes and recorded functional bird traits (body mass, gape width and wing tip length) associated with quantitative (seed-removal rate) and qualitative (seed-deposition pattern) components of seed-dispersal effectiveness. We found that the abundance and richness of frugivorous birds were higher at forest edges. More fruits were removed and dispersed seeds were less clustered at edges than in the interior. Additionally, functional and interaction diversity were higher at edges than in the interior, but functional and interaction evenness did not differ. Interaction strength of bird species increased with body mass, gape width and wing tip length in the forest interior, but was not related to bird morphologies at forest edges. Our study suggests that increases in functional and interaction diversity and an even distribution of interaction strength across bird morphologies lead to enhanced quantity and tentatively enhanced quality of seed dispersal. It also suggests that the effects of species traits on ecosystem functions can vary along small-scale gradients of human disturbance.     

Effects of different components of diversity on productivity in artificial plant communities

In an experiment on artificial plant communities, the effects of three components of plant diversity—plant species diversity, plant functional group diversity and plant functional diversity—on community productivity and soil water content were compared. We found that simple regression analysis showed a positive diversity effect on ecosystem processes (productivity and soil water content). However, when three components of diversity were included in the multiple regression analyses, the results showed that functional group diversity and functional diversity had more important effects on productivity and resource use efficiency. These results suggested that, compared with species number, functional differences among species and the range of functional traits carried by plants are the basis of biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning. These diversity effects of increasing functional group diversity or functional diversity were likely because species differing greatly in size, life form, phenology and capacity to capture and use resources efficiently in diverse communities realize complementary resource use in temporal, spatial, and biological ways.     

Land-use intensification reduces functional redundancy and response diversity in plant communities

Ecosystem resilience depends on functional redundancy (the number of species contributing similarly to an ecosystem function) and response diversity (how functionally similar species respond differently to disturbance). Here, we explore how land-use change impacts these attributes in plant communities, using data from 18 land-use intensity gradients that represent five biomes and > 2800 species. We identify functional groups using multivariate analysis of plant traits which influence ecosystem processes. Functional redundancy is calculated as the species richness within each group, and response diversity as the multivariate within-group dispersion in response trait space, using traits that influence responses to disturbances. Meta-analysis across all datasets showed that land-use intensification significantly reduced both functional redundancy and response diversity, although specific relationships varied considerably among the different land-use gradients. These results indicate that intensified management of ecosystems for resource extraction can increase their vulnerability to future disturbances.
Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 76–86     

Predicting resilience of ecosystem functioning from co‐varying species' responses to environmental change

Understanding how environmental change affects ecosystem function delivery is of primary importance for fundamental and applied ecology. Current approaches focus on single environmental driver effects on communities, mediated by individual response traits. Data limitations present constraints in scaling up this approach to predict the impacts of multivariate environmental change on ecosystem functioning. We present a more holistic approach to determine ecosystem function resilience, using long‐term monitoring data to analyze the aggregate impact of multiple historic environmental drivers on species' population dynamics. By assessing covariation in population dynamics between pairs of species, we identify which species respond most synchronously to environmental change and allocate species into “response guilds.” We then use “production functions” combining trait data to estimate the relative roles of species to ecosystem functions. We quantify the correlation between response guilds and production functions, assessing the resilience of ecosystem functioning to environmental change, with asynchronous dynamics of species in the same functional guild expected to lead to more stable ecosystem functioning. Testing this method using data for butterflies collected over four decades in the United Kingdom, we find three ecosystem functions (resource provisioning, wildflower pollination, and aesthetic cultural value) appear relatively robust, with functionally important species dispersed across response guilds, suggesting more stable ecosystem functioning. Additionally, by relating genetic distances to response guilds we assess the heritability of responses to environmental change. Our results suggest it may be feasible to infer population responses of butterflies to environmental change based on phylogeny—a useful insight for conservation management of rare species with limited population monitoring data. Our approach holds promise for overcoming the impasse in predicting the responses of ecosystem functions to environmental change. Quantifying co‐varying species' responses to multivariate environmental change should enable us to significantly advance our predictions of ecosystem function resilience and enable proactive ecosystem management.     

Loss of functional diversity under land use intensification across multiple taxa

Land use intensification can greatly reduce species richness and ecosystem functioning. However, species richness determines ecosystem functioning through the diversity and values of traits of species present. Here, we analyze changes in species richness and functional diversity (FD) at varying agricultural land use intensity levels. We test hypotheses of FD responses to land use intensification in plant, bird, and mammal communities using trait data compiled for 1600+ species. To isolate changes in FD from changes in species richness we compare the FD of communities to the null expectations of FD values. In over one-quarter of the bird and mammal communities impacted by agriculture, declines in FD were steeper than predicted by species number. In plant communities, changes in FD were indistinguishable from changes in species richness. Land use intensification can reduce the functional diversity of animal communities beyond changes in species richness alone, potentially imperiling provisioning of ecosystem services.     

Conventional functional classification schemes underestimate the relationship with ecosystem functioning

Studies linking the functional diversity of a biota to ecosystem functioning typically employ a priori classifications of species into hypothetically complementary groups. However, multiple alternate classifications exist in which the number of functional groups, the number of species per functional group, and the grouping of species differ from the a priori scheme. Without assessing the relative precision, or ability of an a priori scheme to accurately predict ecosystem functioning relative to its many alternatives, the validity and utility of analyses based on a single a priori classification scheme remains unclear. We examine the precision of a priori classifications used in 10 experimental grassland systems in Europe and the United States that have found evidence for a significant role of functional plant diversity in governing ecosystem function. The predictive precision of the a priori classifications employed in these studies was seldom significantly higher than the precision of random classifications. Post-hoc classification schemes that performed well in predicting ecosystem function resembled each other more with regard to species composition than average classifications, but there was still considerable variability in the manner in which these classification schemes grouped species. These results suggest that we need a more nuanced understanding of how the diversity of functional traits of species in an assemblage affects ecosystem functioning.     

马尾松林向香樟林改造林下植物功能多样性研究

在生物多样性研究中,功能多样性比物种多样性可以更直接地反映生态系统的结构和功能,从而在群落生态学研究中受到越来越多的推崇。马尾松次生纯林是一种亟待改造的森林类型,而在亚热带地区香樟是马尾松林改造的理想树种之一。为了完善马尾松林向香樟林改造的研究,以更好地指导马尾松林改造的实践,本文用空间代替时间的方法,选取马尾松林向香樟林改造过程中4种不同阶段群落为研究对象,对林下灌木层和草本层植物的功能性状及其多样性展开了研究。结果表明:(1)随着森林改造的进行,林下植物的物种数目、功能性状多样性均表现为先上升后下降的变化趋势,其中功能丰富度和功能均匀度在改造前期达到峰值,而物种数目和功能离散度则在改造中期表现最高。(2)比较森林改造的4个时期,林下植物功能多样性的综合表现大致为:改造前期改造中期改造后期未改造时期。(3)森林改造过程中,林下植物"光响应性状"和"繁殖性状"的功能多样性变化趋势相似,但前者比后者对改造的响应更敏感。(4)在森林改造过程中,林下植物的生长、发育和扩散受到林下光照资源的影响,并在长时间的生物竞争中逐渐表现为物种种类、多度和空间分布格局的变化,最终影响生态系统功能。(5)马尾松林向香樟林的改造加速了群落的演替进程,提升了群落的功能,但仍存在林下植物功能多样性下降等问题。在对马尾松次生纯林改造过程中,应选择合适的造林密度和混交林的改造模式。     

Selecting plant species for practical restoration of degraded lands using a multiple‐trait approach

Ecological restoration is essential in rehabilitating degraded areas and safeguarding biodiversity, ecosystem services and human welfare. Using functional traits to plan restoration strategies has been suggested as they are the main ecological attributes that underlie ecosystem processes and services. However, few studies have translated ecological theory into actual restoration practices that can be easily used by different stakeholders. In this article, we applied a multiple‐trait approach to select plant species for the restoration of degraded lands inside the Brazilian Amazon Forests. We selected 10 traits encompassing ease of management, geographical distribution and interactions with animals and other ecosystem services and scored these traits using 118 native species. Then, we ranked all species according to the total number of traits that they exhibited to obtain a list of 53 highly ranked species. In addition, we employed non‐metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to assess the variation in these traits across the entire group of species. Based on the results, we selected a subset of species that maximizes functional diversity (high variability). We performed a sparse linear discriminant analysis (SLDA) to highlight a minimum set of traits to effectively discriminate botanical families. The final list of species and their traits highlight the importance of preserving not only the historical reference of a focused ecosystem but also its functional diversity to restore the interaction with local fauna, enrich the food chain and guarantee ecosystem services for local communities.     

Importance of animal and plant traits for fruit removal and seedling recruitment in a tropical forest

The traits of animals and plants influence their interaction networks, but the significance of species' traits for the resulting ecosystem functions is poorly understood. A crucial ecosystem function in the tropics is seed dispersal by animals. While the importance of species' traits for structuring plant–frugivore networks is supported by a number of studies, no study has so far identified the functional traits determining the subsequent processes of fruit removal and seedling recruitment. Here, we conducted a comprehensive field study on fruit removal by frugivorous birds and seedling recruitment along an elevational gradient in the Colombian Andes. We measured morphological traits of birds (body mass, bill width, Kipp's index) and plants (plant height, crop mass, fruit width and seed mass) which we expected to be related to fruit removal and seedling recruitment. We tested 1) which bird and plant traits influence fruit removal, and 2) whether network metrics at plant species level, functional identities of frugivores (community‐based mean trait values) and/or plant traits were the main determinants of seedling recruitment. We found that large‐bodied bird species contributed more to fruit removal than small‐bodied bird species and that small‐sized fruits were more frequently removed than large‐sized fruits. Small plant species and plants with heavy seeds recruited more seedlings than did large plants and plants with light seeds. Network metrics and functional identities of seed dispersers were unrelated to seedling recruitment. Our findings have two important implications. First, large birds are functionally more important than small birds in tropical seed‐removal networks. Second, the detected tradeoff between fruit size and seed mass in subsequent recruitment processes suggests that the adaptability of forest plant communities to a loss of large frugivores is limited by life‐history constraints. Hence, the protection of large‐bodied frugivores is of primary importance for the maintenance of diverse tropical plant communities.