Various environmental factors may influence the foraging behaviour of seed dispersers which could ultimately affect the seed dispersal process. We examined whether moonlight levels and the presence or absence of rodentshelter affect rodentseedremoval (rate, handling time and time of removal) and seedselection (size and species) among seven oak species. The presence or absence of safe microhabitats was found to be more important than moonlight levels in the removal of seeds. Bright moonlight caused a different temporal distribution of seedremoval throughout the night but only affected the overall removal rates in open microhabitats. Seeds were removed more rapidly in open microhabitat (regardless of the moon phase), decreasing the time allocated to seed discrimination and translocation. Only in open microhabitats did increasing levels of moonlight decrease the time allocated to selection and removal of seeds. As a result, a more precise seedselection was made under shelter, owing to lower levels of predation risk. Rodent ranking preference for species was identical between full/new moon in shelter but not in open microhabitats. For all treatments, species selection by rodents was much stronger than size selection. Nevertheless, heavy seeds, which require more energy and time to be transported, were preferentially removed under shelter, where there is no time restriction to move the seeds. Our findings reveal that seedselection is safety dependent and, therefore, microhabitats in which seeds are located (sheltered versus exposed) and moonlight levels in open areas should be taken into account in rodent food selection studies

Summary: 1.Successful seed dispersal by animals is assumed to occur when undamaged seeds arrive at a favourable microsite. Most seed removal and dispersal studies consider only two possible seed fates, predation or escape intact. Whether partial consumption of seeds has ecological implications for natural regeneration is unclear. We studied partial consumption of seeds in a rodent‐dispersed oak species.2.Fifteen percent of dispersed acorns were found partially eaten in a field experiment. Most damage affected only the basal portion of the seeds, resulting in no embryo damage. Partially eaten acorns had no differences in dispersal distance compared to intact acorns but were recovered at farther distances than completely consumed acorns.3.Partially eaten acorns were found under shrub cover unlike intact acorns that were mostly dispersed to open microhabitats.4.Partially eaten acorns were not found buried proportionally more often than intact acorns, leading to desiccation and exposure to biotic agents (predators, bacteria and fungi). However, partial consumption caused more rapid germination, which enables the acorns to tolerate the negative effects of exposure.5.Re‐caching and shrub cover as microhabitat of destination promote partial seed consumption. Larger acorns escaped predation more often and had higher uneaten cotyledon mass. Satiation at seed level is the most plausible explanation for partial consumption.6.Partial consumption caused no differences in root biomass when acorns experienced only small cotyledon loss. However, root biomass was lower when acorns experienced heavy loss of tissue but, surprisingly, they produced longer roots, which allow the seeds to gain access sooner to deeper resources.7.Synthesis.Partial consumption of acorns is an important event in the oak regeneration process, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Most acorns were damaged non‐lethally, without decreasing both dispersal distances and the probability of successful establishment. Faster germination and production of longer roots allow partially eaten seeds to tolerate better the exposure disadvantages caused by the removal of the pericarp and the non‐buried deposition. Consequently, partially consumed seeds can contribute significantly to natural regeneration and must be considered in future seed dispersal studies.

Summary: 1. Climate change impacts on habitat suitability and demography are often studied, but direct effects on plant dispersal are rarely considered. To address this we analysed climate model projections of future wind speeds and modelled their possible impacts on dispersal and spread of wind‐dispersed plants.2. Projections for 17 Global Climate Models and three emission scenarios suggested great uncertainty about wind speeds in southern England by the period 2070–99. Projections ranged from −90% to +100% change in the mean wind speed, although the average projection was for large falls in both summer and winter wind speeds.3. Using a novel method for converting projected changes in mean wind speed to new seasonal wind speed distributions, we parameterized a mechanistic model of seed dispersal by wind using baseline and changes in mean wind speed from −80% to +80%.4. The mechanistic seed dispersal model was combined with demographic data in an analytical model of plant spread. This was carried out for three British native and three non‐native species, which represented a range of life‐forms.5. Dispersal kernels and population spread rates were affected disproportionately by changes in wind speed, demonstrating nonlinear propagation of uncertainty in wind speed projections through to modelled plant spread rates.6. Sensitivity analyses showed differences among the plant species in which demographic transitions were most important in determining spread rates. By contrast, sensitivity of spread rates to dispersal parameters showed great consistency among species, with seed release height being more important than seed terminal velocity.7. Synthesis. Plant populations will need to shift their geographic ranges to keep pace with climate change‐driven habitat loss. This study shows that climate change may affect that ability by decreasing the dispersal distances of wind‐dispersed plants and thus their potential spread rates. However, the modelling approach presented here illustrates that uncertainty in climate models leads to an even greater uncertainty about how dispersal and spread will change in future climates. Caution should therefore be exercised in making predictions as to how fast plant species may spread in response to climate change.