Evolution of Seed Size and Biotic Seed Dispersal in Angiosperms: Paleoecological and Neoecological Evidence

@article{Eriksson2008EvolutionOS,
  title={Evolution of Seed Size and Biotic Seed Dispersal in Angiosperms: Paleoecological and Neoecological Evidence},
  author={Ove Eriksson},
  journal={International Journal of Plant Sciences},
  year={2008},
  volume={169},
  pages={863 - 870}
}
  • O. Eriksson
  • Published 1 September 2008
  • Environmental Science, Geography
  • International Journal of Plant Sciences
Origins of biotic seed dispersal by vertebrates and evolution of different seed sizes are conspicuous features in angiosperm evolution. In the Cretaceous, angiosperms remained small seeded, and biotic seed dispersal was rare. In the Early Tertiary, average seed size increased drastically, and biotic seed dispersal by vertebrates became common. Later in the Tertiary, along with climate cooling and the opening of vegetation, average seed size dropped. Fossil data suggest a positive correlation… 
View on U Chicago Press
phylodiversity.net
74 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
11
Background Citations
47

74 Citations

Neotropical fish–fruit interactions: eco‐evolutionary dynamics and conservation

Large‐bodied species are the most effective seed dispersal agents and remain the primary target of fishing activities in the Neotropics, so conservation efforts should focus on these species to ensure continuity of plant recruitment dynamics and maintenance of plant diversity in riparian and floodplain ecosystems.

On the origin of giant seeds: the macroevolution of the double coconut (Lodoicea maldivica) and its relatives (Borasseae, Arecaceae)

Summary Seed size shapes plant evolution and ecosystems, and may be driven by plant size and architecture, dispersers, habitat and insularity. How these factors influence the evolution of giant seeds…

Evolution of seed dispersal in the Cerrado biome: ecological and phylogenetic considerations

The results showed that there were strong relationships between fruit types, seed dispersal strategies and vegetation life forms and that these traits were closely related to angiosperms phylogeny and, together, contribute to the evolution of plants in the forest, savanna and grassland formations of the Cerrado biome.

THE EVOLUTIONARY DIVERSIFICATION OF SEED SIZE: USING THE PAST TO UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT

  • H. Sims
  • Environmental Science, Geography
    Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
  • 2012
Quantitative measures of preservation suggest that, although the knowledge of Paleozoic seeds is far from complete, the evolutionary trend in seed size is unlikely to be an artifact of taphonomy.

Anthropogenic Seed Dispersal: Rethinking the Origins of Plant Domestication.

  • R. Spengler
  • Environmental Science
    Trends in plant science
  • 2020

Seed mass and the evolution of fleshy fruits in angiosperms

Fleshy fruits, like drupes and berries, have evolved many times through angiosperm history. Two hypotheses suggest that fleshy fruit evolution is related to changes in the seed mass fitness…

Biotic Seed Dispersal Mechanisms of Tropical Rain Forests – Bats, Fishes, and Migratory Birds

Birds, mammals, fishes, and ants are major biotic dispersal agents of tropics; but, crabs, wasps, and dung beetles are also often reported as seed dispersal agent of tropical plants.

Disentangling the influence of ecological and historical factors on seed germination and seedling types in a Neotropical dry forest

These results provide evidence that several plant life-history traits explain an important part of the variation in seed germination and seedling characteristics observed among species, and may be useful for grouping species in terms of their establishment strategies and roles on the regeneration of tropical dry communities.

The taphonomic fidelity of seed size in fossil assemblages: A live-dead case study

Estuarine deposits capture a partial representation of the local seed flora with significant regional influences, and fossil seed assemblages should not be compared directly to seed-size distributions documented in living communities.

Statistical Comparison of Trait-dependent Biogeographical Models indicates that Podocarpaceae Dispersal is influenced by both Seed Cone Traits and Geographical Distance.

The importance of traits and distance suggests that long-distance dispersal over macroevolutionary timespans should not be thought of as a highly unpredictable chance event, but instead, long- distance dispersal can be modelled, allowing statistical model comparison to quantify support for different hypotheses.
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 75 REFERENCES

Seed Size and Dispersal Systems of Early Cretaceous Angiosperms from Famalicão, Portugal

It is suggested that reptiles and multituberculates, and perhaps other mammals and birds as well, were the likely seed dispersers and that the early angiosperms from Famalicão probably were herbs or small shrubs that inhabited a semiopen coniferous woodland.

VERTEBRATE DISPERSAL OF SEED PLANTS THROUGH TIME

▪ Abstract Vertebrate dispersal of fruits and seeds is a common feature of many modern angiosperms and gymnosperms, yet the evolution and frequency of this feature in the fossil record remain…

Determinants of plant-animal coevolution: the case of mutualistic dispersal of seeds by vertebrates

Patterns contradicting expectations from earlier coevolutionary models, and the observation that optimality and fine scale adjustments are conspicuously absent in many instances, suggest that…

Ecology of Seed Dispersal

A general objective of this paper is to explore the degree to which dispersal process and mode are integrated and, in so doing, to catalyze their union.

Angiosperm Fleshy Fruits and Seed Dispersers: A Comparative Analysis of Adaptation and Constraints in Plant-Animal Interactions

These analyses reveal that seed dispersal syndromes are not entirely interpretable as current adaptations to seed dispersers, and their status as exaptations can be assessed by combining experimental studies of natural selection on fruit size and rigorous comparative and cladistic tests of adaptational hypotheses.

Did fleshy fruit pulp evolve as a defence against seed loss rather than as a dispersal mechanism ?

  • L. Ack
  • Environmental Science
  • 2003
Relatively few studies have examined the evolution of the mutualism between endozoochorous plants and seed dispersers. Most seed dispersal studies are ecological and examine the role of fruit pulp in…

Seed Size, Dispersal Syndromes, and the Rise of the Angiosperms: Evidence and Hypothesis

Observations on propagule size and dispersal type are extended through the fossil record and it is proposed that these have been related throughout the history of the angiosperms and underwent an intensive period of change in the latest Cretaceous and early Tertiary.

Recruitment trade-offs and the evolution of dispersal mechanisms in plants

The model suggests explanations for (i) why so many plant species lack special seed dispersal attributes, (ii) differences in dispersal spectra among plant communities, and (iii) adaptive radiation in seed size and dispersal Attributes during angiosperm evolution.

A Brief History of Seed Size

Evidence is shown that growth form and seed size evolve in a coordinated manner and the largest single contributor to the present-day spread of seed mass was the divergence between angiosperms and gymnosperms.

Evolution of fruit characters and dispersal modes in the tropical family Rubiaceae

The distribution of fruit characters suggested that in several lineages animal-dispersed fruits, such as berries and drupes have remained largely unaltered since the time of origination, indicating a difference in ‘phylogenetic plasticity’ between modes of animal and wind dispersal.
...