dispersers

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• Label: Diaspore dispersal agents
• Entity URI: https://w3id.org/APD/traits/trait_0030212
• Type: categorical
• Definition: The taxa [NCIT:C40098] (biotic vectors) and abiotic mechanisms [NCIT:C25343] that disperse [OMIT: 0027297] seeds [PO:0009010] and fruit [PO:0009001] away from a parent plant.;Dominant diaspore dispersal agents, including both biotic agents (specific taxa) or abiotic mechanisms responsible for dispersing seeds (or other dispersal units) away from the parent plant.
• Additional comments: Allowable terms for biotic dispersal agents include taxa at both the species-level and much broader groupings, reflecting both the different levels of resolution provided by researchers and whether a plant has specific versus broad dispersal agents. Abiotic dispersal mechanisms can likewise be quite general or specific, depending on data availability.
• Allowed values:

  value	description
  abiotic	Fruits are dispersed by unspecified abiotic mechanisms.
  animals	Animals are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  ants	Ants are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  bats	Bats are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  birds	Birds are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  cassowaries	Cassowaries, in contrast to smaller flying birds, are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  fish	Fish are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  floods	Floods are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  flying_foxes	Flying foxes are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  flying_vertebrates	Flying birds and bats are important fruit dispersal agents.
  garden_refuse	Fruit are dispersed through garden refuse.
  indigenous_people	Indigenous people disperse the fruit through traditional practices.
  insects	Insects are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  invertebrates	Invertebrates are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  mammals	Mammals are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  mammals_domestic	Domesticated ammals are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  non-flying_vertebrates	Mammals and non-flying birds (i.e. cassowary, emu) are important fruit dispersal agents.
  passive	There is no special dispersal agent.
  rain	Rain is an important fruit dispersal agent; the diaspore is propelled by action of rain on plant structure or the wetting of the plant structure by rain or dew.
  rodents	Rodents are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  vehicles	Vehicles are an important dispersal agent, such as through mud on tyres.
  vertebrates	Vertebrates are an important fruit dispersal agent.
  water	Water is an important fruit dispersal agent.
  water_currents	Water currents are an important fruit dispersal agent; the diaspore may be either floating or submerged in fresh/saltwater currents.
  wind	Wind is an important fruit dispersal agent.

See the AusTraits Plant Dictionary (https://w3id.org/APD/traits/trait_0030212) for additional information about this trait.

Coverage

For this trait, AusTraits includes a total of 14,219 records. This includes:

• data for 9,106 species.
• data for 220 families.
• data from 16 datasets (see the portal Citations tab for a list of sources)