The interacting effects of precipitation and microhabitat on non‐native seed predation are contingent on temporal dynamics

Understanding how different drivers of global change interact to shape ecological processes remains a major challenge in ecology. Climate change is reshuffling the interactions that structure communities, with major implications for biological invasions. A key consequence of such reshuffling is the alteration of biotic resistance through changes in antagonistic interactions such as post‐dispersal seed predation. This process is highly context dependent and influenced by factors such as climate and microhabitat. However, how large‐ and local‐scale factors interact to shape seed predation remains poorly understood. In this study, we conducted a seed removal experiment along a precipitation gradient in Patagonia, Argentina, to evaluate whether a large‐scale factor, precipitation, interacts with a local‐scale factor, microhabitat type (open or closed vegetation), to influence seed predation patterns of a non‐native conifer species Pinus ponderosa . By measuring seed predation at 960 depots across 12 precipitation levels, we found that seed predation changed across the precipitation gradient and tended to be higher in open habitats at lower precipitation and in closed habitats at higher precipitation. However, this pattern was contingent on temporal context, indicating shifts in granivore activity. These findings suggest that any potential contribution of seed predation to biotic resistance is jointly determined by the interaction between climatic conditions, local habitat structure, and temporal contexts. Together, these results highlight the importance of accounting for multiple interacting factors to better understand and predict seed predation of non‐native species under changing environmental conditions.