Seed Ecology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

   PDF

2. Reproductive strategies in plants

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 1-23

3. Predispersal hazards

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 24-37

4. Dispersal

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 38-56

5. Soil seed banks

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 57-71

6. Dormancy

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 72-86

7. Germination

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 87-102

8. Seedling establishment

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 103-116

9. Regeneration and diversity

   • Michael Fenner

   Pages 117-131

10. Back Matter

    Pages 132-151

    PDF

This book is about the regeneration of plants from seed under field conditions. It attempts to give a reasonably balanced overview of the many aspects of this broad topic. The first chapter introduces some general ideas about reproduction in plants. Subsequent chapters deal with the early stages in the life of a plant, from ovule to established seedling, in a more or less chronological order. The final chapter shows how the data on regeneration requirements of different species can be used to explain a number of important characteristics of whole plant communities. The study of the ecological aspects of reproduction by seed touches on a range of issues of current interest in biology. A discussion of seed size and number involves a consideration of the concepts of resource allocation, life cycles and strategies. The in­ teractions between plants and animals seen in pollination, seed dispersal and predation provide excellent material for the study of coevolution. Investigations on regeneration from seed have greatly our understanding of the causes and maintenance of species added to diversity. The reader will find that virtually all the experiments and field observations described in this book are conceptually very simple. Many of them merely required numerous careful measurements.

• ecology
• environment
• fertility
• growth
• plants
• soil
• temperature
• wind

`The author has struck an excellent balance between presentations of established facts and introductions to unresolved problems and the result is an introductory text which will do much to commend this fascinating and rapidly-evolving field of research to another generation of biologists.'
New Phytologist

• Biology Department, University of Southampton, UK

  Michael Fenner

Policies and ethics