Tag: Dispersal

Author: Vander Wall, Stephen B.; Beck, Maurie J. Description: Frugivory (animals ingest all or part of fleshy-fruits and defecate or regurgitate seeds) and scatter-hoarding (animals store seeds in small caches in soil) are two important vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal syndromes. In both instances, there is an exchange of food for seed transport, but there are many important differences. For example, the seeds of frugivore-dispersed plants are often clumped in feces or under roosts and the microsite of depostion is often unsuitable for seedling establishment. However, frugivores can transport seeds long distances…

See more and a link to full text

Author: Tamme, R; Gotzenberger, L; Zobel, M; Bullock, JM; Hooftman, DA; Kaasik, A; Partel, M Description: Many studies have shown plant species’ dispersal distances to be strongly related to life-history traits, but how well different traits can predict dispersal distances is not yet known. We used cross-validation techniques and a global data set (576 plant species) to measure the predictive power of simple plant traits to estimate species’ maximum dispersal distances. Including dispersal syndrome (wind, animal, ant, ballistic, and no special syndrome), growth form (tree, shrub, herb), seed mass, seed…

See more and a link to full text