中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园机构知识库

Many plants invest in dispersal structures to employ dispersal agents for seed dispersal, which to increase plant reproductive success. However, within-fruit biomass allocation patterns have only been quantified in a few communities. In this study, we compiled a global-scale dataset from the published literature, including 1721 plant species from 710 genera and 176 families. We focus on three groups of plant species dispersed by different agents: vertebrate-dispersed species with fleshy fruit, invertebrate-dispersed species with elaiosome, and wind-dispersed species. Phylogenetic independent analyses were used to quantify the relationships between dispersal structure mass and seed mass. The mean ratios of dispersal structures mass to seeds mass were 0.512, 0.108, and 2.016 for vertebrate-dispersed species, invertebrate-dispersed species, and wind-dispersed species, respectively. Significant and consistent positive allometric biomass allocation patterns were detected between dispersal structures and seeds in all three species groups. Our results suggest that species with larger seeds invest proportionally more biomass in dispersal structure than species with smaller seeds. Plant species with different seed sizes and seed dispersal modes may evolve diverse strategies for allocating biomass in reproductive organs. In summary, our quantification of the withinfruit biomass allocations reveals allometric correlations between fruit functional components and improves our understanding of plant reproductive strategies.