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Are the best dispersers the best colonizers? Seed mass, dispersal and establishment in Carduus thistles

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Abstract

Negative correlations between dispersal and establishment are often reported in the plant literature; smaller seeds tend to disperse better but germinate less well, and produce smaller seedlings. However, because dispersal capacity is often quantified using proxies, such as the settling velocity of wind-dispersed seeds, little is known about the exact shape of this negative relationship, and how it is modified by other plant traits and environmental conditions. We studied the dispersal-establishment relationship in two wind-dispersed thistles (Carduus nutans and Carduus acanthoides). We applied a mechanistic wind dispersal model (WALD) to seeds released under a range of environmental conditions, and tested germination and seedling growth under standardized conditions in a greenhouse. Dispersal distance and establishment (germination and seedling growth) were not significantly correlated, although in both species smaller seeds dispersed farther, and showed lower germination and lower seedling growth rates. This apparent paradox can partly be explained by the significant influence of other factors such as release height and environment (wind and vegetation), which explained more variation in dispersal than did terminal velocity. Another potential explanation is the variation in seed traits: germination is strongly positively related to seed mass, weakly positively related to plume loading, but not significantly related to terminal velocity. This weakening of the correlation with germination is due to additional layers of trait (co)variability: for instance, seed mass and pappus size are positively correlated, and thus big seeds partially compensate for the negative effect of seed mass with larger pappi. Our mechanistic approach can thus lead to a better understanding of both potentially opposing selection pressures on traits like seed mass, and diluting effects of other seed, plant and environmental factors.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Jeff Buterbaugh, Paul Chen, Matt Clark, Wilmer Garman, Brian Jones, Pete LeVan, Melanie Northrup, Emily Leichtman, Emily Rauschert, Christina Saylor, Zeynep Sezen and Laura Warg for assistance in field and lab studies, and to two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation (grant no. DEB-0315860 and DEB-0614065 to KS), the Norwegian Research Council (grant no. 161484/V10 to OS) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO veni-grant 863.08.006 to EJ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349, Oslo, Norway

    Olav Skarpaas

  2. Department of Biology and IGDP in Ecology, The Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Laboratory, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Edward J. Silverman & Katriona Shea

  3. Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Department of Experimental Plant Ecology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Eelke Jongejans

Authors
  1. Olav Skarpaas
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  2. Edward J. Silverman
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  3. Eelke Jongejans
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  4. Katriona Shea
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Correspondence to Olav Skarpaas.

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Skarpaas, O., Silverman, E.J., Jongejans, E. et al. Are the best dispersers the best colonizers? Seed mass, dispersal and establishment in Carduus thistles. Evol Ecol 25, 155–169 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-010-9391-4

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