Question

What characteristics might you expect to find in the fruit and seeds of a plant that is:

dispersed by water?

dispersed by wind?

dispersed by animals that feed on it?

dispersed by passing animals?

Answer 1

1) Dispersed by water

Those which can get dispersed by water can float on water for a very long time until they reach some crevices on either banks and can start growing there. Their shell is strong and water proof. They have air pockets so that they can float eassily for longer periods.Also the shell must be resistant to salt corrosion and muct have a very tough woody covering . Like most of the seeds it also has food storage but the only difference is that the food should be more meaty and very dense , which could be protected from decaying as the seed will remain in water for a very long time.Also the most important point is that they will grow near water only so that their seeds could be propogated eassily through water only. eg- coconut

2) Dispersal by wind

They are very light seeds. They either have bristles coated all over their body (eg- swan plants, cotton wood) or have wings on them (eg- mapel and kauri). This wings and bristles help them glide. These seeds do not just flow away but depending on the current of the wind these seeds are dispersed very very far on various types on lands.As these seeds can float and fall on any ground/soil this is the main disadvantage as all the soils are not favourable for its growth. So these types of trees produce planty of seeds.

3) Dipersal by animals that feed on it

These fruits are mainly fleshy and edible so that the birds , monkeys and other animals can eat that eassily. The seeds of these fruits has a very hard coat which is resistant to water as well as acid corrosio. Acid is present in the stomach of all the animals and birds awhich can destroy the seeds, so to protect against its corrosive effect the seed has tougher coat. When the animals poops and birds release their droppings these seed germinated again in the soil where the dropping and poops falls. As the animals and birds travels to farthest distances their trees are found generally in a very vast coverage of the land. (eg - majority of the woody forests, fruit trees).

4) Dispersal by passing animals

Some seeds whose surface is covered with the projections like hooks, needles and barbs are under this categors. This seeds can get stick to the anilams fur, skin and horns and can be transmitted to very far away places. They are gererally ligth in weight but they can not be dispersed by wind. They can get eassily stuck on the animals fur or skin and the animal would rarely realize that something is clingling on it. These types of seeds can also be dispersed by humans. (eg- pittosporum , this is a seed with very sticky surface)