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Title: Oak Dispersal Syndromes: Do Red and White Oaks Exhibit Different Dispersal Srategies?
Author(s): Steele, Michael; Smallwood, Peter; Terzaghi, William B.; Carlson, John E.; conteras, Thomas; McEuen, Amy
Date: 2004
Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-73. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 72-77
Description: We provide an overview of the ecological and evolutionary interactions between oaks and several of their dispersal agents, and review a series of studies that demonstrate how various acorn characteristics affect feeding and caching decisions of these animals, which in turn may influence oak dispersal and establishment. We demonstrate that acorns of red oak species show a marked dispersal advantage over those of various white oak species. From this, we predict that red oaks are likely to establish in a wider range of micro environments and at greater distances from maternal sources, whereas white oaks should be limited to establishment closer to maternal sources. This in turn should influence the spatial pattern of oak recruitment and seedling physiological traits. We discuss current efforts to test this Differential Dispersal Hypothesis (DDH) and its implications for various aspects of oak ecology including masting, seedling physiol-ogy, and regeneration.
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