Rapid changes in seed dispersal traits may modify plant responses to global change.

ABSTRACT: When climatic or environmental conditions change, plant populations must either adapt to these new conditions, or track their niche via seed dispersal. Adaptation of plants to different abiotic environments has mostly been discussed with respect to physiological and demographic parameters that allow local persistence. However, rapid modifications in response to changing environmental conditions can also affect seed dispersal, both via plant traits and via their dispersal agents. Studying such changes empirically is challenging, due to the high variability in dispersal success, resulting from environmental heterogeneity, and substantial phenotypic variability of dispersal-related traits of seeds and their dispersers. The exact mechanisms that drive rapid changes are often not well understoo

SUBMITTER: Johnson JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6548345 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature