Are nurse-protégé interactions more common among plants from arid environments?
There may be more than one causative factor selecting for nurse-protégé interactions in arid and semi-arid environments, and hypotheses of potential causative forces that might have selected for such interactions in the arid zones such as seed trapping, nutrient, moisture, protection from browsing or trampling and support availability are explored.
Comparative evolutionary ecology of seed size.
- M. Westoby, E. Jurado, M. Leishman
- Environmental ScienceTrends in Ecology & Evolution
- 1 November 1992
Convergence of elaiosomes and insect prey: evidence from ant foraging behaviour and fatty acid composition
- L. Hughes, M. Westoby, E. Jurado
- Biology
- 1 June 1994
This study investigated the hypothesis that elaiosomes on seeds have converged in composition and attractiveness with the insect prey of ants, and the response of six ant species to the diglyceride 1,2-diolein was compared.
Invasions: the trail behind, the path ahead, and a test of a disturbing idea
- A. Moles, Habacuc Flores‐Moreno, F. J. Thomson
- Environmental Science
- 1 January 2012
A broad test of the hypothesis that invasions are better predicted by a change in disturbance regime than by disturbance per se is used, using data from 200 sites around the world to provide a broad test.
Putting plant resistance traits on the map: a test of the idea that plants are better defended at lower latitudes.
The results do not support the hypothesis that tropical plants have higher levels of resistance traits than do plants from higher latitudes, and if anything, plants haveHigher resistance toward the poles.
Germination biology of selected central Australian plants
- E. Jurado, M. Westoby
- Environmental Science
- 1 September 1992
Faster germination tended to be associated with low germinability, suggesting a spectrum of strategies from species that risk a small number of their seeds in many rainfall events, to those that germinate only in large rainfall events but then risk large numbers of seeds.
Effect of light on germination of seeds of Cactaceae from the Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico
- J. Flores, E. Jurado, A. Arredondo
- Environmental ScienceSeed Science Research
- 1 June 2006
To the authors' knowledge, these results are the first to show that darkness triggers secondary dormancy in cacti, and could enhance the propagation of large numbers of cultivated individuals outside their habitats, promoting ex situ conservation.
Correlations between physical and chemical defences in plants: tradeoffs, syndromes, or just many different ways to skin a herbivorous cat?
It is suggested that a lack of consistent defence syndromes may be adaptive, resulting from selective pressure to deploy a different combination of defences to coexisting species.
Geographic ranges of plant species in relation to dispersal morphology, growth form and diaspore weight
- M. Oakwood, E. Jurado, M. Leishman, M. Westoby
- Environmental Science
- 1 September 1993
It is suggested that lineages with adaptations for long-range dispersal may have undergone a lesser incidence of geographic speciation, within the arid and semi-arid flora.
Correlates of seed size variation: A comparison among five temperate floras
- M. Leishman, M. Westoby, E. Jurado
- Environmental Science
- 1 June 1995
Within any one community, plants have found a diversity of possible solutions to the problems of seedling establishment, resulting in a wide range of log seed mass, despite the quite different soils and climates of the five floras.
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