Seed dispersal and range dynamics of plants [Elektronische Ressource] : understanding and predicting the spatial dynamics of serotinous Proteaceae / vorgelegt von Frank Martin Schurr

Schurr

Informations

• Publié par: universitat_regensburg
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 20
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Seed dispersal and range dynamics of plants:
understanding and predicting
the spatial dynamics of serotinous Proteaceae






Dissertation
zur
Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.)
der
Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät III - Biologie und Vorklinische Medizin
der
Universität Regensburg

vorgelegt von

Frank Martin Schurr
aus
Eberdingen-Nußdorf

Regensburg, im Juni 2005

















Promotionsgesuch eingereicht am 15. Juni 2005

Die Arbeit wurde angeleitet von Dr. Steven Higgins und Prof. Dr. Peter Poschlod

Prüfungsausschuss:
Prof. Dr. Charlotte Förster
Prof. Dr. Peter Poschlod
Dr. Steven Higgins
Prof. Dr. Erhard Strohm
Prof. Dr. Christoph Oberprieler









A cone of Leucadendron rubrum that is about to release its seeds. Contents

Contents
1 General Introduction 1
1.1 Seed dispersal and large-scale dynamics of plants 1
1.2 Measuring and modelling seed dispersal 6
1.3 The study system 10
2 A process-based model for secondary seed dispersal by wind and its
experimental validation 15
2.1 Introduction 16
2.2 Model description 17
2.3 Model parameterisation and validation 23
2.4 Results 27
2.5 Discussion 33
3 Can evolutionary age, colonization and persistence ability explain to which
extent species fill their potential range? 38
3.1 Introduction 38
3.2 Methods 40
3.3 Results 47
3.4 Discussion 50
4 Long-distance dispersal need not save species threatened by climate driven
range shifts 54
4.1 Introduction 54
4.2 Methods 55
4.3 Results 58
4.4 Discussion 60
5 General Discussion and Outlook 62
5.1 Ecological and methodological findings 62
5.2 Implications for conservation 64
5.3 Directions for further research 67
Summary 71
Zusammenfassung 72
Acknowledgements 74 Contents
References 76
Appendix 1 - Aggregation of the process-based model for secondary seed
dispersal by wind 90
Appendix 2 - Simulation of seed dispersal by wind and estimates of parameters
relevant for the range dynamics of serotinous Proteaceae 94
Appendix 3 - Simulating population-level migration rates and future range sizes
of serotinous Proteaceae 99
List of figures 105
List of tables 106
Chapter 1 - General Introduction 1
1 General Introduction
The dynamics of populations depends on the four demographic processes of birth, death,
immigration and emigration. This 'fact of life' defines - in the words of Begon, Harper and
Townsend (1996) - 'the main aim of ecology: to describe, explain and understand the
distribution and abundance of organisms'. Dispersal determines two of the four demographic
processes, namely immigration and emigration. Consequently, it is difficult to imagine an
ecological or evolutionary problem that is not influenced by dispersal (Dieckmann et al.
1999). It is less obvious, however, how strong the influence of dispersal is for a given
ecological question in a given study system. In fact, Wiens (2001) claimed that 'dispersal is
one of the most important, yet least understood, features of ecology, population biology and
evolution'.
With this thesis, I aim to contribute to the understanding of seed dispersal and range dynamics
of plant species. In this first Chapter, I review existing information on the importance of seed
dispersal for the large-scale dynamics of plant species, discuss methods for measuring and
modelling seed dispersal, and introduce the study system of this thesis: Proteaceae from the
South African Cape Floristic Region. In Chapter 2, I develop and validate a model for a
particular dispersal process (secondary seed dispersal by wind). In Chapter 3, I test whether
the biogeographical distribution of Proteaceae can be explained by combining data on their
abundance, life history and evolutionary age with process-based models for seed dispersal. In
Chapter 4, I forecast the ability of Proteaceae to migrate in response to climate change and
quantify the uncertainty in these forecasts. Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes the findings of this
thesis with respect to ecology and conservation, and suggests directions for further research.
1.1 Seed dispersal and large-scale dynamics of plants
Seed dispersal is the premier spatial demographic process of plants (Nathan & Muller-Landau
2000) and therefore influences many different aspects of plant biology. Several authors have
recently reviewed the consequences of seed dispersal for fields such as population dynamics
and population genetics (Levin et al. 2003), evolutionary dynamics (Barton 2001), the
structure and dynamics of communities (Zobel 1997, Hubbell 2001, Levin et al. 2003, Levine
& Murrell 2003, Poschlod et al. 2004), or the conservation, restoration and management of
natural systems (Bakker et al. 1996, Bonn & Poschlod 1998, Poschlod & Bonn 1998). I
restrict the following overview to the main focus of this thesis: the consequences of seed
dispersal for the migration and large-scale distribution of plant species. Some of the relevant 2 Chapter 1 - General Introduction
terms are defined in Table 1.1. Note that I am deliberately not using a fixed definition of long-
distance dispersal: which distances are 'long' depends on the objective of a study (Higgins et
al. 2003a).
Table 1.1. Definitions of terms relevant for seed dispersal and the spatial dynamics of plant species.
Term Definition
A general expression for the reproductive dispersal unit of a plant (Levin et al. 2003). This Seed
definition follows the common use of the term 'seed' in the ecological literature (Bonn &
Poschlod 1998), but differs from the morphological definition of a seed as the fertilized
ovule of the spermatophytes that consists of embryo, endosperm, and testa (Wagenitz
1996). The ecological definition of a seed thus comprises a variety of structures that are
morphologically referred to as seeds, fruits, infructescences or spores (compare Poschlod et
al. 2004).
Seed shadow The spatial distribution of seeds dispersed from a single plant (Nathan & Muller-Landau
2000).
Dispersal kernel A two-dimensional probability density function of the location of seed deposition with
respect to the seed source (Fig. 1.1, Nathan & Muller-Landau 2000).
Distance A one-dimensional frequency distribution of seed dispersal distances (Nathan & Muller-
Landau 2000). distribution
Colonization The foundation of a new population as a consequence of the dispersal of offspring to an
unoccupied site, and the subsequent establishment of a population in this site.
Migration The spread of a species into a region that previously was not part of its range.

Seed dispersal and plant migration
The occurrence of one and the same plant species both on continental mainlands and oceanic
islands seemed to provide an argument for the independent creation of species at several
distant points. To counter this argument, Darwin (1859) conducted an early quantitative study
of seed dispersal. He measured the germinability of seeds after prolonged soaking in sea
water, combined this information with the velocity of ocean currents, and concluded that a
number of plant species had the ability to colonize remote islands. Darwin also referred to
shifting plant distributions in response to glacial cycles, but he regarded these shifts as limited
by climatic conditions rather than the migration ability of species. A different view was taken
by Reid (1899, cited in Skellam 1951) when he formulated what was later termed 'Reid's
paradox' (Clark et al. 1998). Reid wondered how plants like oaks that 'merely scatter their
seeds' could have migrated to northern Britain within a few thousand years after the end of the Chapter 1 - General Introduction 3
last glaciation. Reid's paradox was one of the motivations for Skellam (1951) to develop a
formal model for population spread. In his treatment of the problem, he integrated the life
history of a species (reproductive rate and generation time) with a statistical description of
dispersal distances (a 'dispersal kernel', Table 1.1). Skellam assumed that dispersal follows a
diffusion process that is equivalent to a Gaussian dispersal kernel (Fig. 1.1). However, under
this assumption, Reid's paradox could not be resolved: the rapid post-glacial spread of oaks
was only possible if either mean dispersal distance or fecundity was unrealistically high.
Skellam (as Reid before him) concluded that the rapid post-glacial spread of plants into
northern Europe could only be explained by rare long-distance dispersal events. However,
there were few data on the frequency of these events. Even 25 years after Skellam, Harper
(1977) remarked on the 'desperate poverty of hard quantitative information' about both short-
and long-distance seed dispersal.
10000
1000
100
10
1
0.1 Fat-tailed
0.01 Exponential
Gaussian
0.001
0 20 40 60