Europe is experiencing a “worrying seed dispersal crisis,” concluded an international team of researchers led by the University of Coimbra, who published an article in the scientific journal Science this Friday. At stake is the fragile situation of many of the dispersing animals that transport the seeds to new places, because they feed on fleshy fruits (berries and others) and the seeds contained therein later fall in other areas, in the middle of the droppings. The team realized that one third of these 398 dispersal species are now threatened with extinction or their numbers are declining, which puts them at … Continue reading One Third of Europe’s Seed-Dispersing Species Face Decline: Why This Crisis Threatens 190 Native Plants