Investigating seed dispersal distances and long distance dispersal mechanisms of the invasive plant, Alliaria Petiolata
Christopher A. Loebach (Author), Roger C. Anderson (Degree supervisor), Illinois State University (Degree granting institution), Illinois State University School of Biological Sciences
Alliaria petiolata, an herbaceous plant, has aggressively invaded North American woodlands. It has been extensively studied to understand why it is a successful invader, but certain aspects of its biology have been understudied such as seed dispersal distances and long distance dispersal mechanisms (LDDM). My thesis experimentally measured A. petiolata seed dispersal distances and determined if epizoochory (external animal transport) is a LDDM. To measure dispersal distances, seed traps were placed around three A. petiolata seed point sources to capture dispersed seeds at increasing distances away from the point sources. Eight mathematical functions that describe dispersal distances were fitted to seed counts in traps via maximum likelihood. The lognormal and 2Dt functions were selected for analyses and both predicted that seed density rapidly declined as distance increased with mean dispersal distances of 0.56 and 0.52m and 95% of seeds dispersed within 1.22 and 1.14m, respectively
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2015
Illinois State University ; ProQuest LLC, Normal, Illinois, Ann Arbor, MI, 2015