Predispersal hazards

Abstract

In many plants only a small fraction of the ovules produced eventually develop into ripe seeds. For example, in the case of Lupinus texensis Schaal (1980) calculated that only 2.5% of the ovules survive the predispersal phase. The period between ovule formation and seed ripening can be one of the most hazardous in the plant’s life cycle. Demographic studies of plants tend to ignore this predispersal phase, and little is known of the selective pressures to which ripening ovules are subjected. From the point of view of the population geneticist, the differential survival of a particular combination of genes is of importance, regardless of the stage in the life cycle at which it occurs.