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Partial predispersal seed predation in Lotus corniculatus L. (Fabaceae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

Jeff Ollerton  and
Andrew Lack
Jeff Ollerton*
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Science, Nene College, Park Campus, Northampton, NN2 7AL, UK
Andrew Lack
Affiliation:
School of Biological and Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Headington, Oxford, OX3 OBP, UK
*
*Correspondence
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Abstract

Predispersal seed predation may have implications for plant population dynamics and the evolution of plant traits, but assessing the level of seed predation for an individual plant is not always straightforward. Seeds of Lotus corniculatus (Fabaceae) are often only partially eaten by a weevil seed predator, Apion loti. Samples of these seeds were tested for viability and subsequent seedling vigour. A large proportion of these damaged seeds were viable, and the resulting seedlings almost as vigorous as those from undamaged seeds. The ubiquity of these findings, and their ecological significance, is discussed.

Keywords

FabaceaeLotus corniculatusplant reproductive ecologyplant traitspopulation dynamicsseed predationseedlings
Type
Ecology
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , June 1996 , pp. 65 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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