Abstract
<p>Plant diaspore dispersal is a fundamental process affecting the development of forest vegetation and its natural regeneration, especially with regard to typical woodland species, which spread slowly and form short-term soil seed banks. Most of these species have poor seed dispersal mechanisms, which is the major cause of their very slow expansion.</p><p>The following questions were asked: (<em><strong>i</strong></em>) is there a relationship between the age of a woodland and the presence of forest vascular plant species representing different seed dispersal types; (<em><strong>ii</strong></em>) how do the proportions change between species representing different seed dispersal types in relation to the age of woodland; (<em><strong>iii</strong></em>) what factors determine the presence of species representing a given seed dispersal type; (<em><strong>iv</strong></em>) which factors affect the presence and which ones influence the abundance of selected woodland species? A multiple regression models were developed based on data obtained from 144 woodland patches designated for the study. A probit regression analysis was performed for selected species exhibiting various seed dispersal models.</p><p>Woodland plants of all seed dispersal types show a significant relationship with the age of woodland, starting from the strongest linkage: anemochores, myrmecochores, endozoochores, epizoochores, barochores, autochores. As the woodland ages, the proportion of forest myrmecochores and anemochores grows, whilst the proportion of autochores, epizoochores and endozoochores shrinks. Results obtained indicate that the direct proximity of ancient woodland has a major effect on the occurrence of more poorly dispersing plants in recent woodlands, such as myrmecochores and heavy anemochores.</p>
Highlights
The dispersal of plant diaspores is a vital process affecting the development of woodland vegetation and its natural regeneration
The most substantial reduction in the number of species in recent woodlands versus ancient woodlands was noted for myrmecochores and anemochores, whilst the shift was only slight in the case of autochores, epizoochores, and endozoochores
The proportion of poorly dispersing species is larger in ancient woodlands, whereas the proportion of rapidly dispersing ones is higher in secondary woodlands and its rise is more evident in the studied woodland patches, the younger the woodland is (Fig. 1)
Summary
The dispersal of plant diaspores is a vital process affecting the development of woodland vegetation and its natural regeneration. It is a limiting factor for the regeneration of forest communities, regarding typical woodland species that disperse slowly and form only short-term soil seed banks [1]. Indicator species of deciduous forests are mostly geophytes and stress-resistant species [3] The majority of these species have poor seed dispersal mechanisms, which is the main reason of their very slow expansion [3,6,7,8,9,10,11]
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