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Parrots, and their fundamental role in the ecosystems played by the gradient of antagonistic-mutualistic interactions with plant communities, are currently under threat by anthropic activities. We reviewed scientific knowledge of antagonistic-mutualistic interaction between parrot and plant species, focusing on two key global change drivers: urbanization and species introduction. For this, we analyzed the state of knowledge on plant-parrot interactions considering their origin (native or non-native), and the environment type (natural, anthropic/non-urban and anthropic/urban) where interactions were studied. We analyzed 149 articles studying interactions between 126 parrot species and 1758 plant species. Most of these articles focused on the role of parrots as predators, as dispersers and/or pollinators, though very few studies focused on the net result of more than one interaction simultaneously. Articles focused mostly on native parrots interacting with native plants; although this changed with the environment type, single studies did not compare such differences. In natural and non-urban anthropic environments native parrots interacted mostly with native species. In urban areas both native and non-native parrots interacted with plants of both origins. We, here, provide recommendations based on our results and highlight important knowledge gaps to be filled related to interactions between parrot-plant along the antagonistic-mutualistic gradient, focusing on non-native species, and anthropic environments. Understanding the full range of the ecological interactions of parrots, and how they are affected by anthropic activities, will provide us with crucial information about the functioning of the environments they live in, which is also essential for the design of effective conservation strategies.

Human disturbance can be a severe problem for some animal species. Behavioural ecology theory predicts that sensitivity to mortality risks, and thereby to disturbance, will be related to life-history characteristics. Long-lived species with low reproductive rates are expected to have a high cost of predation and therefore avoid risks strongly. In this paper we quantify the effect of roads on the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) using behavioural indicators. We used a pair wise design, offering condors standardized food patches near and far from roads simultaneously The patches consisted of dead adult shee We recorded. p. condors' behaviour when visiting each patch. This study establishes the versatility of behavioural indicators and their usefulness to study conservation problems. We found that, although near and far patches were discovered after similar times and there were similar numbers of condors in the vicinity of near and far patches, the use of patches differed strongly. In the patches far from roads many more condors came to feed, the average time spent per individual was longer, the proportion of time spent vigilant was lower, and the amount of food left uneaten on the carcasses was lower. These results strongly suggest that Andean condors clearly avoid roads, and behave in a way predicted from theory if they trade off safety for energy. This study shows that roads have stronger influence on the habitat use of Andean condors, than previously thought, and may be a significant problem for the species in populated areas. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.