AN ANALYSIS OF VARIABILITY IN SEED SETTLING VELOCITIES OF SEVERAL WIND-DISPERSED ASTERACEAE

Dispersal is an important life history component. Seed settling velocity may be a useful surrogate for the measurement of dispersal ability in wind-dispersed plants, particularly those whose seeds have plumose dispersal structures. I measured settling velocities on seeds of eight species of Asteraceae, including annuals, biennials, and perennials, and including both native and introduced species. The species are Aster exilis, Picris echioides, Chrysopsis villosa, Heterotheca grandiflora, Conyza bonariensis, Sonchus oleraceous, Senecio vulgaris, and Taraxacum officinale. From these data I estimated components of total variation in seed settling velocities due to differences among species, among plants within species, and among inflorescences and seeds within plants. Significant amounts of variability were found at all levels. Contrasts among mean settling velocities showed that the five introduced species have lower settling velocities than the three native species; this result continues to be true when annuals are considered separately from biennials and perennials. Also, over all eight species, annuals have lower settling velocities than biennials and perennials. Variability among species apparently reflects different dispersal "strategies" employed by the species; these different strategies may be correlated with other life-history traits and with ecological characteristics. Variability within species also may have ecological consequences in that such variability may represent an example of risk-spreading.