In biology, dispersal of organisms refers to the movement of individuals or propagules (such as seeds, larvae, or spores) away from their birthplace or current population, influencing gene flow, colonization dynamics, and spatial population structure. Dispersal can be active (driven by organismal movement) or passive (mediated by wind, water, or other vectors), and operates across scales from local neighborhoods to intercontinental ranges. It interacts with selection, drift, and demographic processes, shaping metapopulation dynamics, range expansions, species coexistence, and responses to environmental change, and is commonly modeled using dispersal kernels, connectivity matrices, and individual-based movement models.
Seeds in Madagascar's forests are getting smaller, and new research suggests that human activities are playing a role in this shift. Researchers from the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 11, 2025
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41
Behavioral flexibility, the ability to adapt one's behavior to changing circumstances based on previous experience, is thought to play an important role in a species' ability to successfully adapt to new environments and ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 18, 2025
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21
Most trees in the Amazon (90%), the Atlantic Forest (90%), or the Cerrado, the Brazilian savanna-like biome (60%), depend on animals to disperse their seeds, ensure their reproduction, and keep the forest standing. Birds, ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2025
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39
A popular species of edible mushroom, golden oyster, has spread rapidly throughout the United States since escaping from cultivation into the wild. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison ...
Ecology
Jul 16, 2025
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54
New research into the biomechanics of explosive seed dispersal in squirting cucumbers (Ecballium elaterium) reveals how these plants have adapted a suite of unique traits that help propel their high-speed seeds far and wide.
Plants & Animals
Jul 8, 2025
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1025
Understanding how far Great Barrier Reef corals are from their parents could be key to identifying and protecting at-risk populations, University of Queensland research has found.
Plants & Animals
Jul 2, 2025
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31
A Florida State University ecology and evolutionary biologist has discovered that the reproductive methods of individual coral species play a crucial role in their ability to survive, and even thrive, amid a rapidly changing ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 19, 2025
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22
Today, all non-Africans are known to have descended from a small group of people that ventured into Eurasia around 50,000 years ago. However, fossil evidence shows that there were numerous failed dispersals before this time ...
Evolution
Jun 18, 2025
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145
Ten thousand years ago, mastodons vanished from South America. With them, an ecologically vital function also disappeared: the dispersal of seeds from large-fruited plants. A new study led by the University of O'Higgins, ...
Ecology
Jun 13, 2025
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383
Astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the International Space Station to collect microbiological samples during crew spacewalks for the ISS External Microorganisms experiment. This investigation focuses on sampling ...
Space Exploration
Jan 22, 2025
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