How seed traits predict floating times: a biophysical process model for hydrochorous seed transport behaviour in fluvial systems

摘要

1. Many plants disperse their seeds in waterbodies via hydrochoric transport. Despite a growing body of research into hydrochory, little is known about the fundamental seed traits that determine floatation ability or hydrochoric transport behaviour more generally. Seeds are transported in fluvial systems in one of three phases: surface transport, within the flow or incorporated in bedload. Seeds are often categorised as buoyant or non-buoyant based on density, with little consideration of the morphological traits that determine how long seeds spend in each transport phase.