How Is Blackjack Seed Suited To Its Method Of Dispersal

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1. How Is Blackjack Seed Suited To Its Method Of Dispersal Energy
2. How Is Blackjack Seed Suited To Its Method Of Dispersal Using
3. How Is Blackjack Seed Suited To Its Method Of Dispersal Methods

Different Methods of Seed Dispersal in Plants. Dispersion of seeds is very crucial for propagation of plant species. While we see self-dispersal of seeds in some plants, others require external agents for the same. Read this Gardenerdy article to know how wind, water, animals, and gravity, disperse seeds.

Key concepts
Biology
Plants
Evolution
Aerodynamics

Introduction
Have you ever looked outside on a windy day and seen 'helicopter' seeds spinning through the air? Or picked up a dandelion and blown on it, sending the tiny, fluffy seeds flying all over the place? Wind is very important for dispersing seeds to help plants reproduce. In this project you will design some of your own 'seeds' and see which ones work best when they are blown across the room by a fan.

Background
Dispersal of seeds is very important for the survival of plant species. If plants grow too closely together, they have to compete for light, water and nutrients from the soil. Seed dispersal allows plants to spread out from a wide area and avoid competing with one another for the same resources.

Seeds are dispersed in several different ways. In some plants seeds are housed within a fruit (such as apples or oranges). These fruits, including the seeds, are eaten by animals who then disperse the seeds when they defecate. Some fruits can be carried by water, such as a floating coconut. Some seeds have little hooks that can stick on to an animal's furry coat. (You may have gotten them stuck on your clothing if you ever went hiking in the woods or tall grass.)

Other seeds are dispersed by the wind—such as the 'winged' seeds from a maple tree that spin and 'helicopter' through the air as they fall or the light feathery seeds from a dandelion that can catch on the breeze. The longer a seed stays in the air, the farther it can be blown by the wind, helping the plant species widely scatter its offspring. In this project you will make your own artificial 'seeds' from craft materials. Can you design seeds that will stay in the air for a long time?

Materials

• Examples of different seeds that are dispersed by the wind (Depending on where you live, you may be able to find some of these seeds outside. If you have access to the Internet, you can also do a Web search for maple seeds, dandelion seeds and other types of wind-dispersed seeds to help get ideas.)
• Small, uniform, lightweight objects that you can use as 'seeds' (For example, you could use small paper clips or small binder clips; or purchase a bag of real seeds—such as sunflower seeds—at the supermarket.)
• Craft supplies to build dispersal mechanisms for your seeds (These could be as simple as paper and tape or you could also use things such as streamers, cotton balls or even items you find outside, such as blades of grass.)
• Scissors, tape and glue for cutting and attaching your craft supplies to your seeds (Be careful when using scissors.)
• A window fan or large box fan (Use with caution and appropriate supervision.)
• Stopwatch or timer (optional)
• Measuring tape or ruler (optional)

Preparation

• Clear an open area in the room where you will do the seed-testing activity.
• Place the fan on a table or chair, aimed across the room. You can also do the experiment outside on a windy day.

Procedure

• Design and build several—at least four—dispersal mechanisms for your seeds. The activity works best if you can create at least two similar dispersal mechanisms to test against one another (see examples below). You can use your imagination and come up with your own ideas but here are a few to get you started (using a paper clip as an example 'seed'):
  • Attach a paper clip to a small, square piece of paper, about the size of a Sticky Note, without making any changes to the paper.
  • Attach a paper clip to another small piece of paper, but make a several parallel cuts in one side of the paper to give it 'frills,' and bend them outward.
  • Attach a paper clip to a cotton ball.
  • Attach a paper clip to a cotton ball that you have pulled on to expand it a bit and make it wispier.
  • Cut out some paper in the shape of a maple seed and attach a paper clip.
• Which seed dispersal mechanism or mechanisms do you think will travel the farthest when dropped in front of the fan? Why?
• Turn on the fan. Standing in the same place, try dropping your seeds one at a time in front of the fan. Also try dropping a plain 'seed' (for example, a regular paper clip with nothing attached) to see what happens.
• How far do the seeds get blown by the fan? Do certain seeds take longer to reach the ground than others?
• Think about your results. Did some of your designs not work at all (fall straight down, without blowing forward)? Did some work better than others?What can you do to improve your designs? Can you make changes to your seeds to make them blow even farther?
• Extra: Have a friend use a stopwatch to time how long it takes the seeds to hit the ground. This might be easier if you drop the seeds from a higher location. (Have a tall adult drop them, carefully stand on a chair or drop them from the top of stairs.)
• Extra: Use a tape measure to record how far the seeds travel horizontally from where you drop them to where they hit the ground. Which seeds go the farthest?
• Extra:How do your results change if you change the speed of the fan?

Observations and results

You should find that adding light materials to the 'seed' can make it fall more slowly and blow farther—however, the shape of the materials is also very important. For example, a paper clip attached to a crumpled-up piece of paper will still fall very fast. A piece of paper with a 'wing' design (similar to that of a maple seed) or a bunch of individual streamers (like a dandelion seed), however, will fall more slowly and be blown farther by the fan. Exactly how far the seeds blow will depend on the strength of your fan but you should definitely see a difference in the horizontal distance traveled between a 'plain' seed and one with a dispersal mechanism. When you take your best designs and try to improve on them, you mimic the process of evolution—because the 'best' seed designs in nature are the ones most likely to reproduce!

More to explore
Gone With the Wind: An Experiment on Seed and Fruit Dispersal, from Science Buddies
Sailing Seeds: An Experiment in Wind Dispersal, original project from the Botanical Society of America
Make a Whirlybird from Paper, from Scientific American
Science Activities for All Ages!, from Science Buddies

This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies

Introduction

Plants, being stationary, require a mobile mode for seed dispersal. Modes for seed dispersal include self-projectile mechanisms, wind, water, and animals. Dispersal by animals falls into the category of plant-animal interactions, a subject of interest because of the reciprocal adaptations that can be observed. These reciprocal adaptations lead to coevolution, or change in organisms as a result of their interactions with each other.

Animals as Dispersal Agents

Plants that depend on animals for dispersal have seeds that are adapted to traveling on the outside or the inside of the animal. Seeds with burrs or hooks can attach to an animal’s fur. For seeds that are transported internally, plants provide an attractive fruit pulp reward in return for the ride.

The process of internal seed dispersal begins with the plant producing fruits. Next, an animal is attracted to these fruits based on their characteristics (such as odor), and begins to feed. After these fruit-eating animals (also known as frugivores) ingest fruit, they process them in their digestive tracts, and then regurgitate seeds or deposit seeds in their feces.

Behavior, both innate and learned, is involved in every step of the dispersal process. First, the stimulus of being hungry makes the animal begin searching for food. While in this state of searching, the animal is receptive to stimuli (e.g., color, odor) that may signal the presence of food items. If the fruit encountered has an acceptable taste, the animal will probably choose to eat it. Where seeds are deposited depends on how long the animal stays at the plant feeding, and where the animal goes afterwards.

Not all animals that eat fruit are appropriate dispersers. The effectiveness of an animal as a seed dispersal agent depends on how many seeds it disperses, and how it treats these seeds. Animals that visit a plant for fruit more frequently may be more reliable than those animals that eat fruit more rarely. Some fruit-eating animals are considered seed 'predators' if they kill seeds by digesting the seed along with the fruit pulp. On the other hand, seeds can sprout better after passing through the digestive tract of certain frugivores. In addition to enhancing sprouting, an effective dispersal agent deposits seeds in appropriate habitats for their survival to reproductive adulthood. The survival of a seed greatly depends on where it lands. Seeds that move farther away from other seeds have greater success because they can better escape resource competition, interbreeding with parents, and post-dispersal mortality. Because not all animals that eat fruit are equally good at dispersing seeds, plants should change fruit characteristics to discourage frugivores that are seed predators, and encourage frugivores that are effective dispersers.

Fruit Characteristics and Forager Choice

Fruit characteristics (or fruit traits) that foragers use to choose fruit as food items include toxin content, fruit appearance, and nutrient content. Together, the presentation of these traits is called the fruiting display. Foragers learn to recognize these traits as cues to trigger selection or avoidance of certain fruits as food items. The reliability of the behavioral response depends on the consequences of eating the fruit selected. Animals will prefer fruits that fulfill nutritional requirements, but avoid those that are toxic. Reciprocal change (coevolution) between plants and frugivores can occur when behaviors of foragers select fruit traits that in turn select for foraging behavior.

Toxins. Some fruits contain toxins to deter seed pathogens or predators. Animals can learn which fruits are toxic, and thus learn to avoid them. Toxins can also limit the amount of time a more toxin-tolerant frugivore spends feeding at the plant. Because animals are limited to the amount of toxins they can handle over a period of time, a forager must stop eating a food item when maximum toxin load is reached. The foraging animal may then leave to find an alternative source of food or to seek antidotes. By forcing an animal to leave early, the plant may be able to ensure that its seeds will be deposited far enough away to avoid inbreeding, competition, and pathogens as mentioned above.

Fruit appearance. Although toxin content limits ingestion of fruit, appearance can both limit and encourage it. Fruit appearance provides salient cues for recognition of fruit as a food source. Pigments such as carotenoids, flavonoids, and betalains give fruits their colors, and volatile compounds provide odors. In general, bird-dispersed fruit are red or black, and mammal-dispersed fruit have distinctive odors. The morphology (size and shape) of a fruit may also influence forager choice. Animals are limited to food items small enough to fit in their mouths and throats, especially birds and reptiles that tend to swallow fruits whole. In addition, birds may also consider the bulkiness of seeds when choosing fruit. Not only does seed bulk take up space in the digestive tract, it also may need to be jettisoned before flight.

Nutrient content. Finally, fruit nutrients may be important in influencing forager choice. For most temperate fruits, energy in the form of sugars is the most abundant nutrient. Other vitamins and minerals may also be influential. For example, rose hips are known to be high in vitamin C. Nutrients may be more indirect in effect than appearance. Fruit appearance provides the cue for fruit choice, but nutrients provide the positive feedback that maintains an animal’s preference for the fruit.

Conclusions

How Is Blackjack Seed Suited To Its Method Of Dispersal Energy

By understanding what influences an animal’s decision to choose fruit, we can attempt to predict whether or not a plant’s fruiting display will lead to successful dispersal. The fruiting display must balance maximizing gains from attracting effective dispersers while minimizing losses from also attracting ineffective dispersers. Thus, we can determine the effectiveness of a fruiting display by the number of seeds successfully dispersed per effort for the entire fruit crop. Effort can be determined by identifying the factor that influences an animal’s decision to choose the fruit. For example, if the animal selects fruit on the basis of energy content, then effort is the amount of kilojoules of energy of the entire fruit crop. Effectiveness is then measured in units of numbers of seeds dispersed successfully relative to the amount of energy of the fruit crop.

In conclusion, foraging behavior is an important component of the plant-seed disperser interaction. Foraging behavior determines how fruits are chosen, and where the seeds are deposited. Toxin content, fruit appearance, and nutrient content may influence how fruits are selected and where seeds are deposited. By examining the behavioral components of the seed dispersal process, we can better understand how coevolution between plants and their dispersers may take place.

How Is Blackjack Seed Suited To Its Method Of Dispersal Using

Additional Reading:

Herrera, C.M. 2002. Seed dispersal by vertebrates. Pages 185-208 in C.M. Herrera and O. Pellmyr, editors. Plant-animal interactions: an evolutionary approach. Blackwell Science Ltd. Malden, Massachusetts, USA.

How Is Blackjack Seed Suited To Its Method Of Dispersal Methods

Schupp, E.W. 1993. Quantity, quality, and the effectiveness of seed dispersal by animals. Pages 15-29 in T.H. Fleming and A. Estrada, editors. Frugivory and seed dispersal: ecological and evolutionary aspects. Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York, USA.
Stiles, E.W. 1989. Fruits, seeds, and dispersal agents. Pages 87-122 in W.G. Abrahamson, editor. Plant-animal interactions. McGraw Hill, New York, New York, USA.
http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/pages/fruit-seed-dispersal.htm