Zhishu XIAO

Abstract Protected areas (PAs) are cornerstones of biodiversity conservation, harbouring key mammal species such as apex predators that are important in maintaining trophic cascades and contribute to ecosystem resilience. However, whether PAs have preserved historical wildlife assemblages remains poorly quantified, mainly due to a lack of comparable data from historical and current periods.

Abstract Colonization and extinction at local and regional scales, and gains and losses of patches are important processes in the spatiotemporal dynamics of metacommunities. However, analytical challenges remain in quantifying such spatiotemporal dynamics when species extinction-colonization and patch gain and loss processes act simultaneously. Recent advances in network analysis show great potential in disentangling the roles of colonization, extinction, and patch dynamics in metacommunities.

Abstract Double mutualism, that is, pollination and seed dispersal of the same plant species mediated by the same animal partners, is important but remains elusive in nature. Recently, rodent species were found as key pollinators (i.e. explosive openers) for some Mucuna species in (sub)tropical Asia, but no evidence has shown whether and how these rodents could also act as legitimate seed dispersers via scatter-hoarding for those producing large seeds.