Talk:Biological dispersal

Gravity
This link "(see Wind below)" goes nowhere - I do not have the skill to fix it but someone should remove or fix this. Fritha —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.216.187.10 (talk) 20:56, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

The article says right now: '''The effect of gravity on the dispersal of seeds and spores is straightforward. Heavier seeds will tend to drop downward from the parent plant, and not by themselves travel very far.'''

It is okay to say gravity is responsible for a object to fall down on the ground. But the reasons for an object to fall more or less away from its parent object is due to buoyancy. If a coconut palm and a Dandelion clock were put in a vacuum room (where only gravity can act on a coconut's and dandelion seed's motion) both coconut and dandelion seed would fall the same way. --Abdull 15:05, 10 December 2005 (UTC)


 * I do not even understand your point other than that you are confirming the article's point. The sentence discusses "gravity" not "buoyancy in the air" and what happens in a vacumm is not at all pertinent to life on earth. - Marshman 17:58, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

The point is: gravity is not the only factor in how far the seeds will travel away from the parent plant. You can take a look at Appollo 15's



In this video you will see a hammer (something heavy) falling with the same speed as a falcon's feather on the moon - this is because there is no atmosphere on Moon and therefore no buoyancy that could let the feather fall slower and travel farther.

Buoyancy is very important for biological dispersal. The article's sentence does not say this right now. --Abdull 13:12, 24 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Yes, you are correct that "bouyancy" is important: many plants have mechanisms that essentially overcome the limitations of strict gravity dispersion. What happens in a vacuum is not relevant at all; there are no plants on the moon or in any other vacuum. It is the structures and mechanisms that give seeds bouyancy (and which would be useless in a vacuum) that may need expanding on in the article (see under "wind" and "water"); but not because there is anything incorrect about what the article says about gravity dispersal. - Marshman 03:22, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

-chory
I noticed that there is no article for all the different types of dispersal, such as anemochory, zoochory, autochory, entomochory, etc. Should all of these definitions have their own article (they would probably end up being one line articles, so I guess not), be added to this article, or have a single seperate article? In the latter case, can anyone think of a good title, since "biological dispersal is already taken? Types of biological dispersal maybe? Iron C hris |  (talk) 17:36, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
 * The article here isn't too big, I would suggest just adding a section here and redirecting the red links to this article. If things get too large, we can always split. Richard001 03:44, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Plants with red berries dispersed by birds are one of the most widespread and successful examples of this mutualism.
This statement was unsourced so I removed it. Aldrich Hanssen (talk) 22:19, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

not
THIS IS NOT A VER GOOD PAGE FOR CHILDREN AGED 10-14! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.164.226.210 (talk) 16:24, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

editing
To all those interested in biological dispersal!!~

As part of a class project on plant-animal interactions, we will be updating this page to include more references and expand the information presented on biological dispersal for both plants and animals. As we edit and add information, please, read it over and make any comments or edits as you desire!

Cheers!!! --Snowy plover girl (talk) 16:33, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

more editing
I am a member of the same project as Snowy plover girl. First, we'd like to change this page to separate seed dispersal from biological dispersal. Biological dispersal is such a broad category that I don't know how useful it is for understanding plant and animal movement. Below, I'm posting an example of the "animal dispersal" section we would like to make part of the new seed dispersal page. If you have any suggestions or objections please let us know. Otherwise, we will post these changes.

sample subsection of "seed dispersal"
I will be putting a link to the seed dispersal page from the biological dispersal —Preceding unsigned comment added by Snowy plover girl (talk • contribs) 01:10, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Dispersal by animals
Animals can disperse plant seeds in several ways. First, seeds can be transported on the outside of animals, a process known as epizoochory. Plant species transported externally by animals can have a variety of adaptations for dispersal, including adhesive mucus, and a variety of hooks spines and barbs. A typical example of an epizoochorous plant is Trifolium angustifolium, a species of Old World clover which adheres to animal fur by means of stiff hairs covering the seed. Epizoochorous plants tend to be herbaceous plants, with many representative species in the families Apiaceae and Asteraceae .. However, epizoochory is a relatively rare dispersal syndrome for plants as a whole; the percentage of plant species with seeds adapted for transport on the outside of animals is estimated to be below 5%. Nevertheless, epizoochorous transport can be highly effective if seeds attach to wide-ranging animals. This form of seed dispersal has been implicated in rapid plant migration and the spread of invasive species.

Seed dispersal via ingestion by animals, or endozoochory, is the dispersal mechanism for most tree species. Endozoochory is generally a coevolved mutualistic relationship in which a plant surrounds seeds with an edible, nutritious fruit as a reward to frugivorous animals that consume it. Birds and mammals are the most important seed dispersers, but a wide variety of other animals, including turtles and fish, can transport viable seeds. The exact percentage of tree species dispersed by endozoochory varies between habitats, but can range to over 90% in some tropical rainforests. Seed dispersal by animals in tropical rainforests has received much attention, and this interaction is considered an important force shaping the ecology and evolution of vertebrate and tree populations. In the tropics, large animal seed dispersers (such as tapirs, chimpanzees and hornbills) may disperse large seeds with few other seed dispersal agents. The extinction of these large frugivores from poaching and habitat loss may have negative effects on the tree populations that depend on them for seed dispersal.

Seed predators, which include many rodents (such as squirrels) and some birds (such as jays) may also disperse seeds by hoarding the seeds in hidden caches. . The seeds in caches are usually well-protected from other seed predators and if left uneaten will grow into new plants. Finally, seeds may be secondarily dispersed from seeds deposited by primary animal dispersers. For example, dung beetles are known to disperse seeds from clumps of feces in the process of collecting dung to feed their larvae.

Consequences of seed dispersal
Seed dispersal has many consequences for the ecology and evolution of plants. Dispersal is necessary for species migrations, and in recent times dispersal ability is an important factor in whether or not a species transported to a new habitat by humans will become an invasive species. . Dispersal is also predicted to play a major role in the maintenance of species diversity. Dispersal of seeds away from the parent organism has a central role in two major theories for how biodiversity is maintained in natural ecosystems, the Janzen-Connell hypothesis and recruitment limitation.

New Seed Dispersal Article
As part of the previously mentioned class project, we have started a new Seed Dispersal article. We edited sections from the previous Biological Dispersal page and have made some additions. We look forward to any comments, additions, edits, etc. that people may have. This is mainly a framework with which to build upon until there is an adequate description of seed dispersal. I removed the redirect from Seed Dispersal to Biological Dispersal for now, but if there is a more appropriate means of introducing the seed dispersal article, please let me know. Thanks. Jeremydash (talk) 20:54, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
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Wiki Education assignment: Principles of Ecology
— Assignment last updated by Octobercosmos (talk) 03:45, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

Editor
Hello everyone!

My name is Michael and I will be editing this article for the next few weeks as part of an Ecology class project. I will look to expand upon the information presented in the article, as well as add onto the information through environmental aspects of dispersal.

Michael3468 (talk) 17:26, 14 October 2023 (UTC)