Waterbirds play a pivotal role in the dispersal of plant seeds, thereby influencing the distribution, genetic connectivity, and composition of ecosystems across diverse habitats. Their dual seed ...

With the lightest touch, this plant bursts open, flinging its seeds through the air. Here’s how it evolved this biological ...

Brazilian botanists have caught Mother Nature playing with squirt guns. When raindrops hit the triangular seed capsules of a Bertolonia plant, water floods internal channels, then squirts out the ...

Catapults are often associated with a medieval means of destruction, but for some plants, they are an effective way to launch new life. Dispersing seeds greater distances by catapulting can provide ...

Ant-mediated seed dispersal, or myrmecochory, represents a sophisticated mutualism between a wide range of flowering plants and ants. In this interaction, plants produce nutrient‐rich elaiosomes—a ...

Don't be disappointed if all the fluffy seeds of a dandelion don't fly away with a single blow. The gust of wind from your lungs may be strong, but the dandelion's natural desire to control how its ...

The apple might not fall far from the tree, but new research shows that how it falls might be what is most important in determining tree distribution across a forest. This study of the seed dispersal ...

A new study says tree distribution in the rainforest is highly dependent on species’ method of seed dispersal. The research could help explain how a large number of rainforest trees can coexist in a ...

Summer seems to be closing down all too quickly. Bird song is past, replaced by the chips and squeaks of juvenile birds scuttling in the underbrush. Even the late-hatching mallard ducklings have their ...

The sandbox tree launches seeds at 150 mph by exploding its ripe fruits. This explosive dispersal helps seeds escape crowded forest competition. The tree grows in tropical rainforests from Mexico to ...

The spatial distribution of tree species in species-rich tropical forests is highly complex. The figure shows the spatial position, species identity (color) and size of individual trees in a 500 m × ...

Catapults are often associated with a medieval means of destruction, but for some plants, they are an effective way to launch new life. Dispersing seeds greater distances by catapulting can provide ...