Results/Conclusions Hawthorn and holly (Ilex aquifolium) seeds dominated the seed rain beneath both tree types. The density of dispersed seeds beneath trees differed strongly between tree types, with higher values in patch trees relative to remnant ones. Dispersed seed density also varied between years. The effect of tree type depended, however, on the year (stronger in 2004) and the seed species (stronger in holly). Seed predation rate was higher under remnant trees than under patch trees in both years and for both species (i.e. hawthorn and holly). Estimated density of dispersed seeds surviving to predation differed between tree types in 2004, but not in 2005; an effect demonstrated for both seed species. Finally, fruit abundance was found to be much higher in 2004 than in 2005; both at the level of the focal trees and at the landscape scale.
Our study suggests that scattered remnant trees not only maintain an ecological function as seed dispersal foci in fragmented scenarios, but also that this role may even be equitable to that of forest trees. Moreover, the interannual differences in the relative role of remnant trees for seed dispersal depended on the changes in fruit availability at the landscape scale, and the concomitant variations in foraging patterns by seed dispersers.