Levey, D.J., Silva, W.R., and Galetti, M. Seed dispersal and frugivory: ecology, evolution and conservation

This multi‐authored work is a product of the Third International Symposium/Workshop on Frugivores and Seed Dispersal held in Brazil in August 2000. Fuentes (2000) provided a brief overview of the meeting as a whole. The publication of this volume by early 2002 represents a relatively speedy turn‐around for what is a well‐produced and presented volume. A total of 32 contributions is divided into five sections: Historical and theoretical perspectives (six papers); Plant strategies (nine papers); Animal strategies (four papers); Consequences of seed dispersal (five papers); and Conservation, biodiversity and management (eight papers). A welcome aspect is the presence, within each paper, of a section covering future avenues of research, intended to provide ideas for researchers entering the field. Each paper is self‐contained, with its own reference list and, in addition, there is a reasonably thorough general index to species and subjects. Because of the breadth of content of the book, it should appeal both to botanically and zoologically minded readers, as well as to those explicitly interested in plant–animal interactions. The price tag of £75 means that few potential readers will buy personal copies, but their libraries would be making a good investment. The ecology of seed dispersal may have emerged rather later from its descriptive phase than the other major forms of plant–animal interactions (pollination, herbivory and mutualisms involving plant defence), but experimental and hypothesis‐driven research was already much in evidence in the proceedings of the second (1991) symposium in this series (Fleming and Estrada, 1993), a work that provided a benchmark for the state of the subject at that time. This volume is likely to fulfil a similar role in the years to come. The change in title between the second and third volumes is itself instructive, reflecting the increasing realization of the applied significance of seed dispersal. This is especially the case in tropical landscapes, where there are particular concerns about the consequences of losses of vertebrate seed dispersers. From a parochial stand point, this volume suggests that little European research on seed dispersal and frugivory is being carried out except in Spain. Research methods and techniques that are largely absent from the volume are also instructive. With the path‐finding exception of the contribution by Jordano and Godoy, there is an absence of the use of molecular techniques to monitor seed dispersal and its genetic consequences. Indeed, genetic aspects of seed dispersal in general are almost absent. This is in marked contrast to what might be expected from a parallel volume if it covered the ecology of pollination and pollinators. One does not need a crystal ball to predict that this situation is likely to have changed by the time a fourth volume in this series comes along, but whether or not there will be evidence of a greater interest in frugivory in Europe is another matter.