Abstract
Premise of research. Angiosperms possess pollen dispersal units (PDUs) of varying size, from monads (single grains) to aggregates containing thousands of grains. It has been suggested that the degree of aggregation is related to the dispersal agent (in particular, animals vs. wind), but aggregation has rarely been measured, and its correlation with pollination vectors has been examined for only a few species.Methodology. Assuming a lognormal distribution, the expected distribution for a random disaggregation process, we tested the hypothesis that the distribution of PDU sizes depends on the pollination vector, using 32 anemophilous and zoophilous species. We also examined intraspecific variation in the lognormal parameter values, using 30 different individuals of the common weed Plantago lanceolata.Pivotal results. The mean and standard deviation of the lognormal distribution of PDUs and a third parameter, the proportion of solitary monads, all separated the species by pollination vector, with the mean sl...
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