Long-distance seed dispersal by wind: disentangling the effects of species traits, vegetation types, vertical turbulence and wind speed

Seed dispersal in decline Most plant species depend on animals to disperse their seeds, but this vital function is threatened by the declines in animal populations, limiting the potential for plants to adapt to climate change by shifting their ranges. Using data from more than 400 networks of seed dispersal interactions, Fricke et al . quantified the changes in seed disposal function brought about globally by defaunation. Their analyses indicate that past defaunation has severely reduced long-distance seed dispersal, cutting by more than half the number of seeds dispersed far enough to track climate change. In addition, their approach enables the prediction of seed dispersal interactions using species traits and an estimation of how these interactions translate into ecosystem functioning, thus informing ecological forecasting and the consequences of animal declines. —AMS

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Mechanistic Analytical Models for Long-Distance Seed Dispersal by Wind

The American Naturalist ◽

10.2307/3473315 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 166 (3) ◽

pp. 368 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katul ◽

Porporato ◽

Nathan ◽

Siqueira ◽

Soons ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seed Dispersal ◽

Analytical Models ◽

Long Distance

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Animal movement drives variation in seed dispersal distance in a plant–animal network

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2018.2007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 286 (1894) ◽

pp. 20182007 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

E. Rehm ◽

E. Fricke ◽

J. Bender ◽

J. Savidge ◽

H. Rogers

Keyword(s):

Seed Dispersal ◽

Animal Movement ◽

Bird Species ◽

Dispersal Distance ◽

Dispersal Patterns ◽

Long Distance ◽

Gut Passage ◽

Dispersal Distances ◽

Seed Dispersal Distance ◽

Passage Times

Frugivores play differing roles in shaping dispersal patterns yet seed dispersal distance is rarely quantified across entire communities. We model seed dispersal distance using gut passage times and bird movement for the majority (39 interactions) of known bird–tree interactions on the island of Saipan to highlight differences in seed dispersal distances provided by the five avian frugivores. One bird species was found to be a seed predator rather than a disperser. The remaining four avian species dispersed seeds but differences in seed dispersal distance were largely driven by interspecific variation in bird movement rather than intraspecific variation in gut passage times. The median dispersal distance was at least 56 m for all species-specific combinations, indicating all species play a role in reducing high seed mortality under the parent tree. However, one species—the Micronesian Starling—performed 94% of dispersal events greater than 500 m, suggesting this species could be a key driver of long-distance dispersal services (e.g. linking populations, colonizing new areas). Assessing variation in dispersal patterns across this network highlights key sources of variation in seed dispersal distances and suggests which empirical approaches are sufficient for modelling how seed dispersal mutualisms affect populations and communities.

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Long-Distance Seed Dispersal

Annual Plant Reviews online ◽

10.1002/9781119312994.apr0413 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 204-237 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Frank M. Schurr ◽

Orr Spiegel ◽

Ofer Steinitz ◽

Ana Trakhtenbrot ◽

Asaf Tsoar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seed Dispersal ◽

Long Distance

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Design and development of a sampling platform to study long distance seed dispersal

OCEANS 2014 - TAIPEI ◽

10.1109/oceans-taipei.2014.6964467 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Ogle ◽

John Naglak ◽

Isaac Blue-Eyes ◽

Collin Miller ◽

Aleph Baumbach ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seed Dispersal ◽

Design And Development ◽

Long Distance

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Long-distance wind dispersal of tree seeds

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b95-113 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 73 (7) ◽

pp. 1036-1045 ◽

Cited By ~ 75

Author(s):

D. F. Greene ◽

E. A. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Seed Dispersal ◽

Conservation Biology ◽

Plant Conservation ◽

Dispersal Distance ◽

Wind Dispersal ◽

Source Strength ◽

Long Distance ◽

Model Predictions ◽

Tree Seeds ◽

The Relationship

Long-distance seed dispersal figures prominently in most plant conservation biology arguments, yet we possess little more than anecdotes concerning the relationship among deposition (seeds/m2), source strength (seeds/m2), and distance. In this paper we derive two simple models for long-distance deposition. The models are tested at the scale of 100–1600 m from the source and found to be within 5-fold of the observed deposition. There is no discernable decline in deposition for the range 300–1600 m. While we hesitate to extend model predictions to greater distances, both the models and the empirical results allow us to assert that rare wind-dispersed species in woodlots (dispersal distance around 1 km) are effectively isolated from one another at the temporal scale of 1000 years. Key words: plant conservation biology, wind dispersal of seeds, metapopulations.

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Long-Distance Seed Dispersal

Fruit Development and Seed Dispersal ◽

10.1002/9781444314557.ch6 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 204-237 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Frank M. Schurr ◽

Orr Spiegel ◽

Ofer Steinitz ◽

Ana Trakhtenbrot ◽

Asaf Tsoar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seed Dispersal ◽

Long Distance

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Seed dispersal, spatial distribution and population structure of Brazilnut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) in southeastern Amazonia

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467400010749 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 595-616 ◽

Cited By ~ 106

Author(s):

Carlos A. Peres ◽

Claudia Baider

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Seed Dispersal ◽

Average Distance ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Long Distance ◽

Neotropical Forests ◽

Bertholletia Excelsa ◽

Entire Study ◽

Natural Stands ◽

Seed Shadows

ABSTRACTSeeds of the Brazilnut tree (Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl., Lecythidaceae) sustain one of the most important extractive industries in neotropical forests. Yet little is known about the demography and seed dispersal ecology of Bertholletia, particularly in natural stands which have not been previously harvested. This study presents data on the population density, spatial distribution, and seed dispersal ecology of Brazilnut trees at a pristine stand located within the Kayapó Indian Area of southeastern Amazonia, Pará, Brazil. Brazilnut trees were primarily found within groves (castanhais) of 75 to 149 trees, with a few isolated trees in between. Although the density of trees ≥ 10 cm in diameter at breast height (hereafter, dbh) at two groves was 4.8 to 5.1 trees ha–1, the overall density for the entire study area of c. 950 ha was estimated at 1.3 tree ha–1. Within-grove nearest neighbour distances averaged 21 m and were markedly skewed towards even shorter distances. Seed dispersal experiments using 709 marked seeds indicated that this pattern can be largely explained by the highly restricted seed shadows imparted by the main seed dispersal agents of Bertholletia at this site, the red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina). Agoutis on average scatterhoard Bertholletia seeds to an average distance of 5 m, and rarely beyond 20 m, from seed stations. We suggest that, once edaphic and climatic conditions are suitable, the highly contagious spatial distribution of Bertholletia trees at the landscape level can be largely accounted for by the quantitatively dominant effect of short-distance dispersal by caviomorph rodents, and rare events of long-distance dispersal provided by other vectors. This mechanism of grove formation need not resort to untested conjectures of human dispersal and intentional planting in prehistoric and historic times as it has often been suggested in the literature.

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