Anthropogenic disturbances to ecosystems may result in rapid and hard to reverse changes in vegetation cover. Ecosystems for which perturbations can trigger feedback mechanisms which accelerate the induced
change are particularly susceptible to such undesirable changes. Extensive study of savanna-forest ecosystems has uncovered feedbacks between forest tree cover and frequencies of fire that can lead to rapid shifts between alternative states. However, despite their significance to rates of forest recovery, little attention has been paid to the impact tree seed dispersal strategies may have on these feedbacks. We use a modeling approach to investigate the effects of seed dispersal by wind- and by birds.
Our findings confirm the importance of considering the role of dispersal strategies when attempting to predict the response of savanna-forest boundaries to anthropogenic disturbances, possibly including the unintentional introduction of selection pressures with unknown long-term effects, and may have significant consequences for conservation efforts.
