Seed predation in the context of "Invertebrates"

Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the host) and parasitoidism (which always does, eventually). It is distinct from scavenging on dead prey, though many predators also scavenge; it overlaps with herbivory, as seed predators and destructive frugivores are predators.

Predation behaviour varies significantly depending on the organism. Many predators, especially carnivores, have evolved distinct hunting strategies. Pursuit predation involves the active search for and pursuit of prey, whilst ambush predators instead wait for prey to present an opportunity for capture, and often use stealth or aggressive mimicry. Other predators are opportunistic or omnivorous and only practice predation occasionally.

Empty forest is a term coined by Kent H. Redford's article "The Empty Forest" (1992), which was published in BioScience. An "empty forest" refers to an ecosystem that is void of large mammals. Empty forests are characterized by an otherwise excellent habitat, and often have large, fully grown trees, although they lack large mammals as a result of human impact. Empty forests show that human impact can destroy an ecosystem from within as well as from without.

Many of the large mammals that are disappearing, such as deers and tapirs, are important for seed dispersion. Many tree species that are very localized in their dispersion rely on mammals rather than the wind to disperse their seeds. Furthermore, when seed predation is down, trees with large seeds begin to completely dominate those with small seeds, changing the balance of plant life in an area.