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seed dispersal

Shrubs Bred for Sparse Seeds Still Spread

This post contributed by Celia Smith, ESA Education Programs Coordinator In response to growing concern about the ecological and economic impact of invasive species, there has been increasing interest in developing cultivars of ornamental shrubs that produce few or sterile seeds. However, in a study published in the October issue of BioScience, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and…

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The story of the fig and its wasp

Inside the rounded fruit of a fig tree is a maze of flowers. That is, a fig is not actually a fruit; it is an inflorescence—a cluster of many flowers and seeds contained inside a bulbous stem. Because of this unusual arrangement, the seeds—technically the ovaries of the fig—require a specialized pollinator that is adapted to navigate within these confined…

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Tracking seed-dispersing piranha in the Amazon

Fish are probably not the first animals that leap to mind when thinking of seed dispersers. Squirrels are well-known examples, but researchers have recently tracked a species of frugivorous—that is, fruit-eating—piranha in the Amazon that distribute seeds over more than five kilometers of flood plains. As Daniel Cressey described in a Nature News article, “Although fish have long been suspected…

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The tiny, diligent gardeners of the Amazon

The gardeners described here are not concerned with trimmed topiaries or manicured lawns—though, like designers of landscape gardens, these workers are exceptionally picky. And they have to be if they are going to survive. That is, ants such as Myrmelachista schumanni and Camponotus femoratus of South America depend on certain plants for shelter, and in return, they offer these plants…

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