Chapter 11
Human Impacts on Pollination,
Reproduction, and Breeding Systems
in Tropical Forest Plants
Mauricio Quesada, Fernando Rosas,
Ramiro Aguilar, Lorena Ashworth,
Víctor M. Rosas-Guerrero, Roberto Sayago,
Jorge A. Lobo, Yvonne Herrerías-Diego,
and Gumersindo Sánchez-Montoya
Over the last two decades several studies have shown that plant species of
contrasting life-forms ranging from small herbs to large trees may experi-
ence a decline in reproductive success following habitat fragmentation and
population disruption (Bawa 1990; Aizen and Feinsinger 1994; Aguilar et
al. 2006). Such outcome has been shown for many plants throughout the
tropics, particularly trees, where human activities have resulted in elevated
rates of habitat fragmentation and degradation (Ghazoul and Shaanker
2004; Quesada and Stoner 2004; Quesada et al. 2004). Because almost 90
percent of angiosperms (i.e., lowering plants) depend on animals for effec-
tive pollination and sexual reproduction (Buchmann and Nabhan 1996), it
is of central concern to understand the capacity of pollinators for transfer-
ring pollen among individuals and its consequences on plant reproduction
in newly created anthropogenic landscapes.
While evolutionary dependence of plants on animal mutualists for
sexual reproduction has improved pollen transfer to stigmas, it has also
prompted increased plant susceptibility to fragmentation and other forms
of anthropogenic disturbance that characterize today’s landscapes (e.g., Ai-
zen et al. 2002; Ashworth et al. 2004). Changes in abundance, composi-
tion, and/or foraging behavior of pollinators as a consequence of habitat
disturbance will have an effect on the amount and/or quality (autogamous
DOI 10.5822/978-1-61091-021-7_11, © Island Press 2011
173 , R. Dirzo , Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests: Ecology and Conservation et al. (eds.)