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Social Impact Statement Patents can be used as a measure of innovation and to illustrate the commercial potential of plant and fungal biodiversity. The proportion of plant species named in patents represents only 6.2% of plant species, whereas the proportion of fungi is likely less than 0.4%. Fungi clearly justify further research. Innovation on a species usually drives more innovation on that species. We suggest that we should ensure that commercialization frameworks encourage studies on a greater diversity of plants and fungi. This could not only increase the range of biodiversity‐based products and associated income but also incentivize their conservation and encourage more fundamental research. Summary In this review, patents are used as a measure of innovation, and data show that a low proportion of plant and fungal biodiversity is mentioned in patents. The proportion of plant species named in patents represents only 6.2% of plant species, whereas the proportion of fungi is most likely less than 0.4%. The number of species within a plant family mentioned in patents varies greatly. The following families having the greatest numbers: Asteraceae with 1,445 species (4.5% of species), Fabaceae with 1,299 species (5.8%), Poaceae with 1,008 species (8.5%), and Rosaceae with 718 species (12.7%). Case studies from Brazil, Ethiopia, and South Africa explore some of the controversies associated with patenting, especially when patents have not taken prior art into account. In contrast, a case study on plants and fungi used in traditional Chinese medicine illustrates their economic value and their potential to support new innovations. Innovative ways to use plant and fungal biodiversity has the potential to generate wealth, reduce poverty, improve human well‐being and in theory incentivize biodiversity conservation. International and national policies and laws that aim to facilitate equitable benefit‐sharing associated with access to and use of genetic diversity need to be reviewed to help facilitate innovation, as well as ensure that the rights of communities to use these resources are recognized and supported.

A new species and new records of asexual ascomycetes from Brazil were documented during field trips in the National Forest of Amapa, Amapa State, in the Amazon Forest biome. Bhatia laevispora sp. nov., collected on decaying leaflets of Astrocaryum murumuru (Arecaceae), is described and illustrated. It differs from the type species by monoblastic conidiogenous cells with percurrent extensions and bigger, smooth conidia with brown to dark brown apical cells, paler central cells and pale brown to subhyaline basal cell. Cirrenalia donnae is a new record for the Neotropical region, and Balaniopsis kirkii and Dictyosporium pandani are new records for the American continent. Taxonomic information including descriptions, geographical distribution, comments and illustrations are provided. The genera Balaniopsis , Bhatia and Cirrenalia constitute new additions to the Brazilian mycobiota. This work expands the geographic range of these species to Brazil

Animals aid population growth and fitness in tropical forest communities through dispersal and negatively impact populations through seed predation. The interaction between dispersal and seed predation can produce distance- or density-dependence; powerful mechanisms for maintaining species diversity incorporated in the Janzen-Connell model. Large mammals, the highest biomass seed predators of intact Amazonian communities and at risk due to human disturbance, are potentially central to these interactions. This study tests the Janzen-Connell model and investigates the impact of mammalian seed predators on seedling recruitment and maintenance of tree diversity. Patterns of both vertebrate and invertebrate seed predation and seedling recruitment were studied in the two most abundant canopy tree species in western Amazonia (Arecaceae: Astrocaryum murumuru and Iriartea deltoidea). We specifically examined effects of both spatial and temporal variation of the highest biomass seed predator in southwest Amazonian forests, the white-lipped peccary ( Tayassu pecari), on recruitment through disturbed and undisturbed sites and through a fortuitous 12 year natural extinction and recolonization event of T. pecari. Distance-dependent seedling recruitment was found in Astrocaryum and Iriartea at both sites. However, the median distance of seedlings was approximately 1.5x farther from reproductive adults in both palms at the undisturbed site. The number of Iriartea seeds escaping predation increased 6,000% in both space and time due to the decline of T. pecari abundance. The results demonstrate that Janzen-Connell effects are stronger in intact ecosystems and tie these mechanistically to changes in seed predator abundance. This study shows that anthropogenic changes in mammal communities decrease the magnitude of Janzen-Connell effects in Amazonian forests and may result in decreases in tree diversity.

We take advantage of a fortuitous local extinction and recolonization of white-lipped peccaries (WLPs) at the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in southeastern Peru to assess the impact of this high-biomass seed predator on the recruitment of a dominant member of the tree community, the palm Astrocaryum murumuru. WLPs were common at Cocha Cashu in the mid-1970s. In 1978, the species vanished from the entire region and did not reappear until 1990. To assess the impacts of the presence-absence of WLPs on Astrocaryum recruitment, we conducted transect counts of both the number and spatial distribution of palm seedlings in 1978 (when WLPs were present), in 1990 (after a 12-yr absence of WLPs), and in 1999 (after 10 yr of recovery). Other factors affecting recruitment, such as climate variability, differences in tree fecundity, and fluctuations of vertebrate and invertebrate seed predators were also examined as alternative hypotheses for any changes in seedling spatial distribution and abundance. In the absence of WLPs, the density of Astrocaryum seedlings increased 1.7-fold, and the spatial distribution of seedlings with respect to safe sites was significantly altered. After the return of WLPs to the study area, seedling density dropped to its former level, and the spatial distribution of seedlings with respect to safe sites returned to the same pattern found 21 yr earlier in 1978. None of the other factors investigated varied systematically with the census intervals. These results demonstrate that the absence of a single, albeit important, member of a diverse seed predator guild can have a major impact on the demography of a common tree species. We infer that individual seed predators can play central roles in regulating the demography of tropical trees, as envisioned many years ago by Janzen and Connell, and that their extirpation or extinction can have cascading effects in tropical ecosystems.

Palm seeds of the genus Astrocaryum are known to attract a wide range of seed predators, including insects, rodents and peccaries. We investigated the removal of seeds of Astrocaryum murumuru var. macrocalyx in dense groves and under solitary palms, both within and outside of peccary exclosures. We set out arrays of 40 seeds at each of 40 sites representing four treatments: in the open and in peccary exclosures, in groves and under solitary palms. Seed removal from each site was monitored daily for 55 d. Infra-red-triggered cameras were installed to identify the species that removed seeds. From the known and hypothesized behaviour of vertebrate seed predators under various circumstances, we predicted that (1) overall seed loss should be higher under solitary trees, (2) peccaries should forage preferentially in groves, (3) the variance in the rate of seed removal should be higher in groves, (4) a greater fraction of the seeds removed from solitary palms should be scatterhoarded, and consequently, (5) greater numbers of seedlings should recruit near solitary palms than in groves. The first four of these predictions were confirmed and the last was rejected by the results. Peccaries preferred to forage in groves, and small rodents preferred to forage under solitary palms. Whether in groves or under solitary palms, peccaries preferentially removed seeds from large arrays (21–40 seeds), and mostly ignored small arrays (≤ 20 seeds). Camera trapping demonstrated that the most frequent visitors to seed arrays were Myoprocta pratti and Proechimys spp. There was no significant difference in the numbers of seedlings around trees in groves versus solitary trees.

The amount of leaf litter fall produced by different tree species in tropical forests varies in space and time. Falling litter may cover seeds and thereby enhance their survival by making their detection by seed predators more difficult. Tests were made to determine whether Astrocaryum murumuru and Dipteryx micrantha seeds survive better in microsites covered by leaf litter. Seed numbers and litter cover on the forest floor were experimentally manipulated. How natural variation in leaf litter cover and thickness affects seed and seedling survival of these two plant species was also examined. Seed survivorship was significantly higher for both plant species in microsites with leaf litter than in those with bare soil. Results from an experiment in which the litter was not disturbed showed that Astrocaryum seed survival was positively correlated with litter thickness (defined as the number of overlying dead leaves). Astrocaryum seedling survival was also significantly affected by leaf litter; more seedlings survived in shallow litter. Leaf litter had no effect on Dipteryx seedling survival. The results of the study suggest that early recruitment of both Astrocaryum and Dipteryx is influenced by the spatial distribution and amount of forest leaf litter.

The role of regeneration strategies in structuring tropical tree communities has been a recent focus of attention of tropical ecologists. Canopy discontinuities created by tree-falls are considered to be critical to many rain forest trees for establishing and completing their life cycles. It was investigated whether it is advantageous for two common large-seeded and shadetolerant Amazonian tree species, the palmAstrocaryum murumuruand the legume,Dipteryx micrantha, to have their seeds dispersed to gaps. The dispersal process was simulated by placing experimental seeds and seedlings in gaps and in the shaded understorey, and then following their performance. Seeds and seedlings from the two species were used. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the survival functions and compare survivorship curves. Survival ofAstrocaryumseeds, and ofDipteryxseeds and seedlings, was higher in two gap zones (crown and bole) than in the shaded understorey (both near and far away from a conspecific adult). A higher proportion of seedlings of both plant species survived within gaps than in the shaded understorey over an 18-wk period. One year after the seedlings had been transplanted into gaps these patterns still held. Naturally occurringAstrocaryumseeds survived better beneath conspecific adult trees located within 30 m of gaps than beneath trees located 100 m from gaps. Variation in gap size was significant forDipteryxseeds, but not forDipteryxseedlings andAstrocaryumseeds and seedlings.Dipteryxseeds survived longer in smaller than in larger gaps. By colonizing tree-fall gaps, these two species improved their chances of completing their life cycles.

Large-seeded plant species tend to be restricted to late-seral and mature forests, yet the reason for this habitat specificity is often not understood. The typical absence of these species from younger forests may be due to either their ineffective seed dispersal to early-seral habitats or postdispersal factors such as life history traits and physical and biotic variables, or both. Two large-seeded palm species, Iriartea deltoidea and Astrocaryum murumuru var. javarense, were used to experimentally evaluate the role of postdispersal limitation by testing whether the species exhibit differential seedling survivorship in forest stands of different ages. Under natural conditions, both palm species are largely absent from early- and mid-seral floodplain forest but are common in late-seral and mature forest. Iriartea seedlings and juveniles are found occasionally in early- and mid-seral forest, whereas Astrocaryum are almost never found there. To assess the degree to which postdispersal factors could account for these patterns, seeds of the two palm species were transplanted into four zones in the successional floodplain forest of Manu National Park, Peru. Three experiments quantifying seedling establishment and survivorship were carried out : a 3-yr experiment using Iriartea, in which flooding during the 1st yr was lower than average (Iriartea Dry Experiment) ; a 1-yr experiment using Iriartea, in which flooding during the 1st yr was higher than average (Iriartea Wet Experiment) ; and a 2-yr experiment using Astrocaryum, in which flooding during the 1st yr was also higher than average (Astrocaryum Wet Experiment). For each experiment, four or five plots, each containing 75 seeds, were placed in each of four zones from early to late succession. The entire design was replicated in two successional transects that were separated by 6 km. Seedling survivorship of Astrocayum was highest in the late-seral zones of both transects, which corresponded closely to its restricted natural distribution. Hence, postdispersal limitations, perhaps in conjunction with restricted seed dispersal, apparently contributed heavily to the general absence of Astrocaryum from the early- and mid-seral floodplain forests. Flooding did not appear to influence Astrocaryum seedling survivorship. Postdispersal factors also seemed to influence strongly Iriartea establishment, as evidenced by the significant variation in seedling survivorship across seral zones and between transects. Moreover, in the Iriartea Dry Experiment, seedling survivorship was negatively correlated with level of flooding. During the Iriartea Wet Experiment, survivorship was substantially lower in all seral zones, probably due to the heavy flooding. Thus, flooding, as a postdispersal factor, appeared to play a major role in shaping the natural distribution of Iriartea in the successional floodplain forests. Because seedling survivorship in one mid-seral zone was substantially higher than would be predicted from the natural Iriartea seedling density, results from transplant experiments also suggest that limited seed dispersal may contribute to this palm's early-seral distribution. For Iriartea, seed dispersal limitation may play a role complementary to that of flooding. In Amazonian primary-successional floodplain forest, the habitat specificity of at least one, and perhaps two, large-seeded species appears to result from both dispersal limitation and postdispersal limitation factors.