2015-16Biology INVESTIGATORY PROJECT Dispersal of Seeds Anirudh Murali Chaitanya Techno School Bangalore AIM OF PROJECT 4. MATERIAL REQUIRED 7. CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE 2. OBSERVATION 9. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE. INTRODUCTION 5. THEORY 6. 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY .INDEX 1. CONCLUSION 11. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3. Signature of external examiner of Biology teacher Signature . a student of class XII has successfully completed the research on the below mentioned project under the guidance of __________ ( Subject Teacher ) during the year 2015-16 in partial fulfillment of physics practical examination conducted.DEPARTMENT OF Biology CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Anirudh Murali. many people have best owned upon me their blessings and the heart pledged support. Primarily I would thank god for being able to complete this project with success. Then I would like to thank my principal________ and Biology teacher ________. whose valuable guidance has been the ones that helped me patch this project and make it full proof success his suggestions and his instructions has served as the major contributor towards the completion of the project. . Then I would like to thank my parents and friends who have helped me with their valuable suggestions and guidance has been helpful in various phases of the completion of the project.ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In the accomplishment of this project successfully. Last but not the least I would like to thank my classmates who have helped me a lot. this time I am utilizing to thank all the people who have been concerned with project. some plants show self dispersal by explosive mechanism (autochory). . lights and space thereby enabling them to have a better start in Life. Besides.Aim To Study of Dispersal of Seeds by Various Agencies INTRODUCTION The Process of scattering of fruits and seeds to distant places away om their parent is caalled dispersal on dessemination. Dispersal thorugh agency of animals is considered as the best and most successful method. The fruits and seeds develop many devices for better dispersal through different agencies. The dispersal through the agency of animals in consideredas the best and most successful method. It provides the new palnts better chances of obtaining water. water (hydrochory) and animals including man (zoochory).Dispersal of seeds and fruits is quite Intresting subject of natural phenomenon and hence the study of dispersal of seeds by various agencieshas been selected for the present project. The principle agencies that aid in the dispersal of fruits and seeds are wind (anemochary). nutrients. 3. Male bellbirds perch on dead trees in order to attract mates. This higher survival may result from the actions of density-dependent seed and seedling predators and pathogens. Seed dispersal also allows plants to reach specific habitats that are favorable for survival. and the asynchrony of germination. seed dispersal may allow plants to colonize vacant habitats and even new geographic regions. which can have important plant benefits. Seed survival is often higher away from the parent plant. In the case of fleshy-fruited plants. the speed. which often target the high concentrations of seeds beneath adults. 5. and often defecate seeds beneath these perches where the seeds have a high chance of survival because of high light conditions and escape from fungal pathogens. reach nutrient-rich microsites and survive longer than other seeds.Barochory or the plant use of gravity for dispersal is a . Competition with adult plants may also be lower when seeds are transported away from their parent. These seeds can thus avoid adverse environmental effects such as fire or drought. 2.Theory Benefits Seed dispersal is likely to have several benefits for plant species. These features are peculiar to myrmecochory. Gravity (Autochory) 1. at another scale. 1. which may thus provide additional benefits not present in other dispersal modes. 4. seed-dispersal in animal guts (endozoochory) often enhances the amount.Seeds dispersed by ants (myrmecochory) are not only dispersed short distances but are also buried underground by the ants. Finally. a hypothesis known as directed dispersal. Reliance on wind dispersal is common among many weedy or ruderal species. limited wind in its habitat prevents the seeds to successfully disperse away from its parents. However. they can flutter to the ground. Gravity dispersal also allows for later transmission by water or animal. and maples. Wind Allochory * Wind dispersal of dandelion seeds Entada phaseoloides – Hydrochory Wind dispersal (anemochory) is one of the more primitive means of dispersal. Wind dispersal can take on one of two primary forms: seeds can float on the breeze or alternatively. * The classic examples of these dispersal mechanisms include dandelions. . 2 Two other types of autochory are ballochory (the seed is forcefully ejected by dehiscence and squeezing) and herpochory(the seed crawls by means of trichomes and changes in humidity). Fruits exhibiting this type of dispersal include apples. The effect of gravity on heavier fruits causes them to fall from the plant when ripe. An important constraint on wind dispersal is the need for abundant seed production to maximise the likelihood of a seed landing in a site suitable for germination. coconutsand passionfruit and those with harder shells (which often roll away from the plant to gain more distance). which have a feathery pappus attached to their seeds and can be dispersed long distances. resulting in clusters of population.simple means of achieving seed dispersal. which have winged seeds (samara) and flutter to the ground. Seeds can travel for extremely long distances. spines and barbs. the seeds can be transported by ocean currents over long distances. all named zoochory. and a variety of hooks. depending on the specific mode of water dispersal. The water lily is an example of such a plant.This is because some fruits are waterproof and can float. The seeds of palm trees can also be dispersed by water. a process known as epizoochory. Plant species transported externally by animals can have a variety of adaptations for dispersal.Animals can disperse plant seeds in several ways. Seeds can be transported on the outside of vertebrate animals (mostly mammals).The small hooks on the surface of abur enable . or seed dispersal through water. If they grow near oceans. Water lilies' flowers make a fruit that floats in the water for a while and then drops down to the bottom to take root on the floor of the pond. allowing the seeds to be dispersed as far as other continents. including adhesive mucus. By animals (zoochory) The small hooks on the surface of abur enable attachment to animal fur for dispersion.Water (hydrochory) Many aquatic (water) and some terrestrial (ground) plant species use hydrochory. Examples are: dispersal on human clothes (up to 250 m). Recent research points out that human dispersers differ from animal dispersers by a much higher mobility based on the technical means of human transport. Seed predators. the percentage of plant species with seeds adapted for transport on the outside of animals is estimated to be below 5%.Endozoochory is generally a coevolved mutualistic relationship in which a plant surrounds seeds with an edible.Hand lens etc. Material Required. singles cases > 100 km). including turtles and fish.Humans may disperse seeds by many various means and some surprisingly high distances have been repeatedly measured.Dispersal by humans on the one hand may act on large geographical scales and lead to invasive species. However.attachment to animal fur for dispersion. Birds and mammals are the most important seed dispersers. epizoochory is a relatively rare dispersal syndrome for plants as a whole. Collect different types of seeds and observe their feature carefully.Foreceps. mainly terrestrial snails). Classify them . dispersal by humans also acts on smaller. malacochory (by molluscs. rodents may also disperse seeds via seed spitting due to the presence ofsecondary metabolites in ripe fruits. regional scales and drives the dynamics of existing biological populations.on shoes (up to 5 km) or by cars (regularly ~ 250m. is the dispersal mechanism for most tree species. On the other hand. which include many rodents (such as squirrels) and some birds (such as jays) may also disperse seeds by hoarding the seeds in hidden caches. but a wide variety of other animals. In addition.Different types of seeds and fruits. ornithochory (by birds) and saurochory (by non-bird sauropsids). or endozoochory. Seed dispersal via ingestion by vertebrate animals (mostly birds and mammals).Petridishes.Knife. 1. Other types of zoochory are chiropterochory (by bats).The seeds in caches are usually well-protected from other seed predators and if left uneaten will grow into new plants. Dispersal by humans (anthropochory) used to be seen as a form of dispersal by animals. nutritious fruit as a good food for animals that consume it. can transport viable seeds. Experimental Procedure. 3. Bombax (Sembal) Seeds have hairy outgrowth to providelarge surface area to the wind 6. Calotropis (Ak). 2. Nymphea (Water Lily).Heloptelia (Chilbil).Float on Hydrochory/Dispersal the surface of water.No Plant Characteristics of Seeds/Fruits Mode of Dispersal/External Agencies Autochory/Explosive mechanism 1 Impatiens(Balsam) Capsulsular Fruit.Jacornida. Chenopodium (Bathua). Cinchoria. Hydrochory/Dispersal by water .Dalbergia (Shisham) Thin wing like expansion are Anemochary/Dispersal present in seeds/Fruits. Pappus open up like a parchute.Albiziz (Siris).tension develops Autochory/Explosive in the drying wall of the mechanism carpels causing the fruit to Burst open along the line dehiscene. note down the feature of their seeds and classify them according to the mode of dispersal.Polygonum Seed/Fruit very light. Dandelion. provide large surface area to the wind for their dispersal. Tecoma.Wings by wind.according to their mode of dispersal. Alstonia. Similarly cut open different types of Fruits. Sonchus Fruit single seeded cypsela Anemochary/Dispersal with a tuft of hair(pappus) ay by wind.Mature Fruit burst Open with Force when touched and seeds are shot several feet away.Shorea(Sal). Viola (Pansy) Fruit capsule. Cocus (Coconut) Spongy thelamus or spongy Mesocarp of the fruit. Acer(Maple)Hopea.Moringa. 5. Record Observation Observation: S. 2. Elm. Anemochary/Dispersal by wind. upper end. 3. Nelumbiam (Lotus). 4. by water 7. barbs.Martynia (Tigers Claw) 10 Loranthus.pulses.Cleo Fruits are sticky and can stick Zoochory/Dispersal by me..or spines to get animals Tribulus. animals 9.hooks.Plumbago. This effects colonization situated on the banks of a river or to wetlands adjacent to streams relative to the distinct wind directions. 12. Ficus (Banyan & Pipal Tree) Fruits edible. Essentially. and in recent times dispersal ability is an important factor in whether or not a species transported to a new habitat by humans will become an invasive species. Xanthium. Dispersal is necessary for species migrations. chiefly eaten by Zoochory/Dispersal by birds. Viscus. wind plays a larger role in the dispersal of .Dispersal is also predicted to play a major role in the origin and maintenance of species diversity. In addition. Cordia Seeds are sticky and seeds stick to the beek of the Birds. (Maina). Madicago attach with fur of the animal. Zoochory/Dispersal by Birds Zoochory/Dispersal by Man CONCLUSION Seed dispersal has many consequences for the ecology and evolution of plants. the speed and direction of wind are highly influential in the dispersal process and in turn the deposition patterns of floating seeds in the stagnant water bodies. Achyranthus Fruits and seeds have Zoochory/Dispersal by (Phuthkanda).Seed dispersal is essential in allowing forest migration of flowering plants.seeds released Birds unharmed with faeces. spices) Fruits/Seeds have econimic Importance. Crop Plants(Cereals. Boerhavia.8. The wind dispersal process can also effect connections between water bodies. Dispersal of seeds away from the parent organism has a central role in two major theories for how biodiversity is maintained in natural ecosystems. The transportation of seeds is led by the wind direction. 11. to the body of animals. Sharma . days and seasons. The time period of which the dispersal occurs is essential when considering the consequences of wind on the ecological process. but the ecological process allows the process to become balanced throughout a time period of several years.waterborne seeds in a short period of time.P. BIBLIOGRAPHY HELP FROM INTERNET & Wikipedia INFORMATION FROM LIBRARY HELP FROM TEACHERS Comprhensive Lab Manual J.