Seed dispersal mode
Species were coded as dispersed by wind, animals, or gravity. Plants
adapted to wind dispersal presented fruits or seeds that were
particularly light and/or winged. For those plants adapted to animal
dispersal, exploratory analyses showed that different types of animal
dispersal were not significantly different (results not shown). Thus, we
kept the animal dispersal category broad, including plants with fruits
or seeds dispersed by endo-, ecto-, or syn-zoochory. Plants with no
adaptations for vector-mediated seed dispersal were coded as gravity
dispersed. Based on the information reported in publications with
FST and trait data, we did not find evidence of
secondary movement of fruits or seeds by biotic agents. In some
instances, however, water may play a secondary role in dispersing seeds
that fall under mother plants, as in the mangrove speciesAvicennia spp. and Rhizophora spp., and for Beta
vulgaris L., Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq., Cocos
nucifera L., and Primula nutans Georgi, as well as for many
forest trees after floods or inhabiting riparian sites (Levine &
Murrell, 2003; Nilsson, Brown, Jansson, & Merritt, 2010).