Seed DispersalDavid R. Murray Seed Dispersal focuses on the mechanics and processes involved in seed dispersal, including its implications in ecology, animal behavior, plant and animal biogeography, speciation, and evolution. The selection first elaborates on the aerial motion of seeds, fruits, spores, and pollen and seed dispersal by water. Discussions focus on seed dispersal by rain, river, and flood, effective seed dispersal by ocean currents compared to other vectors, aerodynamic forces and their effects, and launching and release mechanisms. The text then takes a look at seed dispersal syndromes in Australian Acacia, including inference of dispersal syndromes, seed dispersal syndromes, ecological consequences of seed dispersal, and evolutionary derivation of dispersal syndromes. The publication ponders on seed dispersal by fruit-eating birds and mammals, rodents as seed consumers and dispersers, and seed dispersal in relation to fire. Topics include fire as a dispersal vector, long distance dispersal, granivorous rodents and the fates of seeds, determinants of the fate path, population ecology of seed dispersal, and foraging for fruits. The selection is a valuable reference for researchers interested in the factors involved in seed dispersal. |
Contents
Chapter 2 Seed Dispersal by Water | 49 |
Chapter 3 Seed Dispersal Syndromes in Australian Acacia | 87 |
Chapter 4 Seed Dispersal by FruitEating Birds and Mammals | 123 |
Chapter 5 Rodents as Seed Consumers and Dispersers | 191 |
Chapter 6 Seed Dispersal in Relation to Fire | 237 |
Chapter 7 Evolution of Seed Dispersal Syndromes According to the Fossil Record | 273 |
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Common terms and phrases
Acacia species Academic Press acorns adaptations Aerial aerodynamic angiosperms animals ants aril Aust Australia Australian Acacia bats bird-dispersed bird-syndrome birds Burrows caches canopy Carlquist characteristics clumps Cretaceous cupule cycads defined density diaspores difficult dispersal agents dispersal of seeds dispersal syndromes Ecol Ecology Ecosystems effect elaiosome established example fate diagram fire first fitness fleshy flight flora flow flowering foraging forest fossil frugivores fruit-eating germination granivorous gymnosperms habitat harvest herbivores Herrera heteromyid influence insects Islands Janzen large seeds lipid mammals mass microphylla morphological Neotropics occur Oecologia parent plant particles patterns Pennsylvanian Permian plant species populations post-fire probably profitability Reichman relative release reproductive Reynolds numbers rodents sarcotesta scatterhoards sclerotesta seed and seedling seed coats seed consumers seed dispersal seed ferns seeds and fruits shrubs significant Smallwood soil specific squirrels studies sufficient survival Table Tiffney trajectory trees tropical vegetation velocity Virola Western Australia Whelan wind wing