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Dispersal and distribution in Leopoldinia (Palmae)
Author(s) -
Kubitzki K.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
nordic journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.333
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1756-1051
pISSN - 0107-055X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1756-1051.1991.tb01243.x
Subject(s) - biology , biological dispersal , submersion (mathematics) , amazon rainforest , seed dispersal , habitat , botany , ecology , mathematical analysis , population , demography , mathematics , sociology , differentiable function
The Amazon palm genus Leopoldinia exemplifies the transition from a terrestrial to an amphibious life‐style, accompanied by a switch from synzoochorous dispersal to hydrochory. Leopoldinia piassaba produces heavy fruits with a fleshy, sweet mesocarp and is presumed to be dispersed by terrestrial animals. This species enters aquatic habitats only so far as these are submersed for a short while. The other two species, L. major and L. pulchra , resist long‐lasting submersion and have much smaller, buoyant fruits, which are dispersed by water and are produced in proportionately larger guantities. They are eaten and mostly destroyed, but occasionally probably also dispersed by fish. L. pulchra , the species with the smallest fruits, has acquired the widest geographical distribution.