Research methods in ecologyClements, Frederic E. (Frederic Edward)
Science
Research methods in ecology
Clements, Frederic E. (Frederic Edward)
Plant ecology; Plant ecology -- Methodology
=262. Mobility= denotes potentiality of migration as represented by
modifications for this purpose. It corresponds, in a sense, to
dissemination, though seed production also enters into it. Its most
perfect expression is found in those plants which are themselves motile,
_Bacteriaceae_, _Oscillatoria_, _Volvocaceae_, and _Bacillariaceae_, or
possess motile propagules, such as most _Phycophyta_. On the other hand,
it is entirely undeveloped in many plants with heavy unspecialized seeds
and fruits. Between these two extremes lie by far the greater number of
plants, exhibiting the most various degrees of mobility, from the motile
though almost immobile offshoots of many _Liliaceae_ to the immotile but
very mobile spores of fungi. It is thus seen that motility plays a
relatively small part in migration, being practically absent in
terrestrial forms, and that it bears a very uncertain relation to
mobility. In analyzing the latter, contrivances for dissemination are
seen to determine primarily the degree of mobility, while the number of
seeds produced will have an important effect in increasing or decreasing
it. A third factor of considerable importance is also involved, namely,
position with reference to the distributive agent, but any exact
knowledge of its importance must await systematic experiment somewhat
after the methods of Dingler, but with air-currents, etc., of known
velocity and direction. The time is not distant when by such methods it
will be possible to establish a coefficient of mobility, derived from
terms of position, weight, resistant surface, and trajectory for
definite wind velocities or for particular propulsive mechanisms.
=263. Organs for dissemination.= Plants exhibit considerable diversity
with reference to the part or organ modified, or at least utilized, for
dissemination. This modification, though usually affecting the
particular product of reproduction, may, in fact, operate on any part of
the plant, and in certain cases upon the entire plant itself. In the
majority of plants characterized by alternation of generations, the same
individual may be disseminated in one generation by a reproductive body,
and in the other by a propagative one, as is the case in the oogones and
conidia of _Peronospora_, the spores and gemmae of _Marchantia_, the
fruits and runners of _Fragaria_, etc. Special modifications have, as a
rule, been developed in direct connection with spores and seeds, and
mobility reaches its highest expression in these. It is, on the other
hand, greatly restricted in offshoots and plant bodies, at least in
terrestrial forms, though it will now and then attain a marked
development in these, as shown by the rosettes of _Sempervivum_ and the
tumbling plants of _Cycloloma_. For the sake of convenience, in
analyzing migration, all plants may be arranged in the following groups
with reference to the organ or part distributed.
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