Science: “When hunters wiped out most fruiteating birds in the tropical forest of Lambir Hills National Park on western Borneo by the 1990s, the skies grew duller—and in a few years so did the forest. Without birds to spread their seeds, the diversity of fruit-producing plants declined, illuminating the critical importance of seed dispersal for ecosystem health. The movement of seeds across the landscape in animals’ guts is a “glue that keeps ecological communities together,” says Jordi Bascompte, an ecologist at the University of Zurich. Now, ecosystems in temperate climates seem to be coming unglued as well. Today in Science, a team reports that at least one-third of European plant species could be in trouble because most of the animals that move their seeds are threatened or declining. The study is “brilliant and compelling” but also “alarming,” says Pedro Jordano, an ecologist at the University of Seville. The decline in seed dispersers—not just birds, but also mammals, reptiles, and ants—could jeopardize the ability of plants to expand their range to cope with climate change or recover after wildfire, he adds, especially in Europe’s highly fragmented landscape. “It’s a fantastic analysis,” says Lynn Dicks, a conservation scientist at the University of Cambridge. “You just think, ‘Why has no one done that before?’” Figuring out which animals disperse which plant seeds requires analyzing hundreds, if not thousands, of species interactions. Sara Mendes, a Ph.D. student in the lab of Ruben Heleno, a community ecologist at the University of Coimbra, took on the gargantuan task. She scoured thousands of studies in 26 languages that mentioned terms such as seed dispersal or were focused on one of the more than 900 European animals likely to consume seeds. “The project required a certain amount of craziness to be accomplished,” she says.”