Release thresholds strongly determine the range of seed dispersal by wind |
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| Institution: | 1. Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8080, NL-6700 DD Wageningen, The Netherlands;2. Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Bornsesteeg 69, NL-6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands;3. Experimental Plant Ecology Group, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands;1. IFW Dresden, Institut für Komplexe Materialien, Postfach 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany;2. School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China;3. WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan;4. Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar 751013, India;5. Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, D-21502 Geesthacht, Germany;6. TU Dresden, Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaft, D-01062 Dresden, Germany;1. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA;2. Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore 560070, India;3. Wildlife Conservation Society, India Program, Bangalore 560070, India;4. School for Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32601, USA;1. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Wallingford OX10 8BB, UK;2. Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK;3. Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK;4. School of Biosciences, University of Cardiff, Main Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK;5. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK;1. Diretoria de Pesquisa Científica, Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão nº 915, CEP 22460-030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;2. Laboratório de Botânica e Ecologia Vegetal da Universidade Federal do Acre, Rodovia BR 364, km 04, nº 6637, CEP 69915-900, Rio Branco, AC, Brazil;1. Instituto del Agua, Universidad de Granada, C/ Ramón y Cajal 4, Granada 18071, Spain;2. Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de Granada, Avda. de Hospicio s/n, Granada 18071, Spain;3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA;4. Tahoe Environmental Research Center, University of California, Davis, 291 Country Club Dr., Incline Village, NV 89451, USA;5. Aquatic Ecosystem Analysis Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89557, USA;6. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA;1. Department of Forestry and Forest Ecology, University of Warmia and Mazury, Pl. Łódzki 2, 10-727 Olsztyn, Poland;2. Biometry Division, Department of Econometrics and Statistics, Faculty of Applied Informatics and Mathematics, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland;3. Kwiatowa 7, 32-031 Mogilany, Poland;4. Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Sportowa 19, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland |
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| Abstract: | The effect of the seed abscission process on the dispersal distance of seeds has never been studied explicitly and is often ignored in studies that aim to estimate the seed shadows of species. To examine the importance of the abscission process for the seed shadow we used a seed trajectory model that keeps track of the release threshold dynamics of the individual seeds on mother plant. We defined the release threshold as the critical wind speed that induces a mechanical force that is just large enough to release a seed from its mother plant. The model used real wind speed sequences and seed appearance over time on the mother plant.Several calculations were performed to investigate the effect of release thresholds dynamics on seed shadow of two herbaceous species with contrasting terminal velocity values (Vt): Centaurea jacea (Vt = 4.1 m s−1) and Hypochaeris radicata (Vt = 0.49 m s−1).Release thresholds were responsible for a two-fold increase of median dispersal distances in both species. Tails of the seed shadows, the fraction of seeds that travel furthest, were even more sensitive and increased with a factor 4.5 for Centaurea and 7.0 for Hypochaeris. Our work indicates that the abscission process appears to be very important and suggests that dispersal distance of plants is currently severely underestimated, which, in turn, has major consequences for our current understanding of the distribution, metapopulation dynamics and survival of plant species. |
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