Morphology and Dispersal Potential of Wind‐dispersed Diaspores of Neotropical Trees

Morphological and aerodynamic traits affecting mean potential dispersal distance are quantified for wind‐dispersed diaspores of tree species on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The sample includes 34 species in 16 families and represents six aerodynamic groups. Mass and area (maximum cross section) each vary over six orders of magnitude among the species. In contrast, wing‐loading, defined as weight divided by area, varies over only one order of magnitude, as does the rate of descent. While the regression of rate of descent on the square root of wing‐loading is significant overall, the slopes vary significantly among five aerodynamic groups. At comparable wing‐loading values, diaspores of fluffy kapok fall faster than four other aerodynamic groups and rolling autogyros fall faster than non‐rolling autogyros. Assuming the diaspores are released from their typical tree height and experience a mean windspeed of 1.75 m sec −‐1 , the expected mean dispersal distance varies among the 34 species from 22 to 194 m. Rate of descent is weakly correlated with shade tolerance of seedlings for a subset of 18 species; rate of descent is more strongly correlated with the log of dry mass of seed for all 34 species. Given these wide differences in dispersal potential, any generalizations about tropical trees that use wind dispersal are of dubious value.