Readings Seminar
6 Nov 2003
Augspurger (1987)
LAJ
Augspurger1, Carol K. and Susan E. Franson2. (1987) Wind dispersal of artificial fruits varying in
mass, area, and morphology. Ecology 68(1):27-42.
1
Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana
2
Department of Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution, University of Illinois, Urbana
The authors created 15 different physical models of artificial seeds based on the seed morphology of the
wind dispersed tropical tree, Tachigalia versicolor. To test the effect of seed morphology and wind speed
on the distance the seed travels, they altered several aspects of morphology and released the artificial
seeds from the top of a 40m tower on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, into five different wind conditions.
Readings Seminar
6 Nov 2003
Augspurger (1987)
LAJ
They also mapped the seed shadows for each seed model:
They found that changing either seed area or seed mass significantly affected dispersal. Decreasing mass
or increasing seed area increased dispersal. Changing both area and mass simultaneously while holding
wing loading constant did not have consistent or significant effects on dispersal.