Dispersal is a critically important process in ecology, but robust predictive models of animal dispersal remain elusive. We identify a potentially ubiquitous component of variation in animal dispersal that has been largely overlooked until now: the influence of mate encounters on settlement probability. We use an individual-based model to simulate dispersal in sexually-reproducing organisms tha...

Dispersal influences both the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of range expansion. While some studies have demonstrated a role for human-mediated dispersal during invasion, the genetic effects of such dispersal remain to be understood, particularly in terrestrial range expansions. In this study, we investigated multimodal dispersal during the range expansion of the invasive gecko Hemidactyl...

Seed dispersal can be advantageous (1) in escape from densityor distance-dependent seed and seedling mortality, (2) by colonization of suitable sites unpredictable in space and time, and (3) by directed dispersal to particular sites with a relatively high probability of survival. Most previous research on the consequences of seed dispersal has focused on escape and colonization because adaptati...

Dispersal is a crucial factor in natural evolution, since it determines the habitat experienced by any population and defines the spatial scale of interactions between individuals. There is compelling evidence for systematic differences in dispersal characteristics within the same population, i.e., genotype-dependent dispersal. The consequences of genotype-dependent dispersal on other evolution...

Among the most popular strategies for maintaining populations of both plants and animals in fragmented landscapes is to connect isolated patches with thin strips of habitat, called corridors. Corridors are thought to increase the exchange of individuals between habitat patches, promoting genetic exchange and reducing population fluctuations. Empirical studies addressing the effects of corridors...

Parthenium hysterophorus is a weed of global significance causing great losses in India. Health challenges recorded in humans and animals are serious. Its management requires a collective approach of government and non-government agencies. Present study focuses to measure the prevalence and severity of Parthenium hysterophorus and experiments were designed to study its germination, seed dispers...

Identifying the patterns and processes driving dispersal is critical for understanding population structure and dynamics. In many organisms, sex-biased dispersal is related to the type of mating system. Considerably, less is known about the influence of life-history variability on dispersal. Here we investigated patterns of dispersal in masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) to evaluate influences of...

Although there has been growing interest in the effect of dispersal on species diversity, much remains unknown about how dispersal occurring at multiple scales influences diversity. We used an experimental microbial landscape to determine whether dispersal occurring at two different scales - among local communities and among metacommunities - affects diversity differently. At the local scale, d...

Dispersal can stimulate speciation by facilitating geographical expansion across barriers or inhibit speciation by maintaining gene flow among populations. Therefore, the relationship between dispersal ability and speciation rates can be positive or negative. Furthermore, an 'intermediate dispersal' model that combines positive and negative effects predicts a unimodal relationship between dispe...

We conducted a functional analysis of seed dispersal and its plasticity in response to density in Arabidopsis thaliana by growing morphologically diverse ecotypes under high and low density and measuring seed dispersion patterns under controlled conditions. Maternal plant architectural traits such as height and branching, and fruit traits such as dehiscence and silique length influenced various...