Tropical forests have been intensively degraded and deforested for different anthropogenic uses, mostly associated to agricultural expansion due to increasing human demands. Therefore, an emerging number of studies has advocated on the benefits of land-sharing strategies such as agroforestry systems which conciliate biodiversity conservation with production. Yet features at both landscape and local scales could affect ecological processes and productivity within agroforests. Here, we used structural equation models to investigate the direct and indirect effects of landscape forest cover, animal seed dispersers and local vegetation variables on the seed rain structure of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) agroforests of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. We sampled seed rain for 12 consecutive months, performed bird and bat surveys and measured local structure variables related to management intensification (i.e., lower abundance and richness of adult trees and lower canopy shading indicating farm intensification) in 15 farms embedded within landscapes showing varying forest cover amount (2.3–74.9 %). Our results indicate that total and animal-dispersed seed richness in cocoa agroforests increased in more forested landscapes induced by the frugivorous bird richness, whereas the abundance of total and animal-dispersed seeds was greater in more shaded farms. Contrary to expectations, the abundance of total and animal-dispersed trees negatively influenced the richness of frugivorous birds, thus indirectly affecting the richness of total and animal-dispersed seeds. Finally, we observed a weak similarity among the composition of arrived seeds and adult trees of animal-dispersed species recorded in the same sampling sites, suggesting that several seeds were actively dispersed from other localities. Our results therefore demonstrate that landscape forest amount and local management intensification play key roles in determining the seed diversity reaching cocoa agroforestry farms. We emphasize the importance of retaining native vegetation cover around the cocoa agroforestry, by either preserving the existing forest remnants or promoting restoration programs within deforested landscapes, in addition to locally ensure tree shading to boost seed arrival and enhance ecosystem functionality.

由于人类需求的增加，热带森林已被严重破坏和砍伐以用于不同的人为用途，主要与农业扩张有关。因此，越来越多的研究提倡土地共享战略的好处，例如农林业系统，其将生物多样性保护与生产结合起来。然而，景观和地方尺度的特征都可能影响农林的生态过程和生产力。在这里，我们采用结构方程模型，研究景观森林覆盖率对可可的种子雨结构中的直接和间接影响，动物种子传播者和当地的植被变量（可可）巴西大西洋森林的农林。我们连续12个月采样了种子雨，进行了鸟和蝙蝠调查，并测量了15个农场的地域结构，这些地方与管理集约化有关的局部结构变量（即成年树的丰度和丰度较低，而树冠的阴影则表明农场集约化），保险金额（2.3–74.9％）。我们的结果表明，在由可食性鸟类丰富度引起的更多森林景观中，可可农林中种子总和动物分散的种子丰富度增加，而阴影多的农场中种子总和动物分散种子的丰度更大。与预期相反，树木总数和动物分散树木的丰富度对食肉鸟类的丰富度产生了负面影响，因此间接影响了总种子和动物分散种子的丰富度。最后，我们观察到在同一采样点记录的到达的种子和动物分散物种的成年树组成之间的相似性较弱，这表明一些种子从其他地方活跃地分散了。因此，我们的结果表明，景观林的数量和地方管理的强化在确定到达可可农林业场的种子多样性方面起着关键作用。我们强调保留可可农林业周围原生植被的重要性，既要保留现有的森林残留物，也要在森林砍伐的景观内促进恢复计划，此外还要在当地确保树木遮荫，以促进种子到达并增强生态系统功能。我们观察到在同一采样点记录的到达种子和动物分散物种的成年树组成之间的相似性较弱，这表明一些种子是从其他地方主动分散的。因此，我们的结果表明，景观林的数量和地方管理的强化在确定到达可可农林业场的种子多样性方面起着关键作用。我们强调保留可可农林业周围原生植被的重要性，既要保留现有的森林残留物，也要在森林砍伐的景观内促进恢复计划，此外还要在当地确保树木遮荫，以促进种子到达并增强生态系统功能。我们观察到在同一采样点记录的到达种子和动物分散物种的成年树组成之间的相似性较弱，这表明一些种子是从其他地方主动分散的。因此，我们的结果表明，景观林的数量和地方管理的强化在确定到达可可农林业场的种子多样性方面起着关键作用。我们强调保留可可农林业周围原生植被的重要性，既要保留现有的森林残留物，也要在森林砍伐的景观内促进恢复计划，此外还要在当地确保树木遮荫，以促进种子到达并增强生态系统功能。这表明一些种子是从其他地方积极散布的。因此，我们的结果表明，景观林的数量和地方管理的强化在确定到达可可农林业场的种子多样性方面起着关键作用。我们强调保留可可农林业周围原生植被的重要性，既要保留现有的森林残留物，也要在森林砍伐的景观内促进恢复计划，此外还要在当地确保树木遮荫，以促进种子到达并增强生态系统功能。这表明有几颗种子从其他地方活跃地散布了。因此，我们的结果表明，景观林的数量和地方管理的强化在确定到达可可农林业场的种子多样性方面起着关键作用。我们强调保留可可农林业周围原生植被的重要性，既要保留现有的森林残留物，也要在森林砍伐的景观内促进恢复计划，此外还要在当地确保树木遮荫，以促进种子到达并增强生态系统功能。