<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Differences between structural and functional environmental heterogeneity caused by seed dispersal</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Functional Ecology</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2004</style></year></dates><publisher><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Blackwell Science Ltd</style></publisher><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">18</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">787-792</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">* 1This paper explores the idea that functional heterogeneity (variability of a system property affecting ecological processes) is only a fraction of the available structural heterogeneity (variability of a property measured without reference to ecological effects) caused by non-random propagule dispersal. We report the effect of acorn dispersal by jays on the light environment experienced by Holm Oaks (Quercus ilex L.) during early recruitment in a Mediterranean montane forest. * 2Four light variables were estimated by studying hemispherical photographs: direct site factor (DSF); indirect site factor (ISF); and potential direct radiation during April (PDRApril) and August (PDRAugust). Means and variances of these variables were compared before and after the dispersal of acorns by jays. * 3The landscape occupied by Holm Oaks was very heterogeneous, which translated into differences in the available light among microhabitats of up to one order of magnitude. * 4Because of the spatial pattern of acorn dispersal, the light environment of the oaks during their establishment was much more homogeneous than that in the whole landscape. * 5This demonstrates that the heterogeneity relevant for plant recruitment is not necessarily that of the landscape as a whole.</style></abstract></record></records></xml>