Double-edged dispersal: animal-mediated transport in the Anthropocene.

Animals play important roles in dispersing seeds, nutrients, and microbes across Earth's surface. These transport functions connect ecosystems and shape fundamental dynamics, including community composition, productivity, and carbon storage. Yet humans have substantially altered resource availability, wildlife assemblages, and movement patterns, leading to some undesirable outcomes, including the spread of nonnative species, pollutants, and zoonotic pathogens. Although animals disperse multiple natural and anthropogenic objects simultaneously, people tend to champion or criticize animal dispersal functions individually. Such valuations paint an incomplete picture and may misguide management. Going forward, researchers must holistically consider all relevant dispersal forms, their interactions, and ecological outcomes together. Balancing trade-offs will help wildlife managers effectively harness animal-mediated dispersal for mitigating the climate, biodiversity, and emerging disease crises.