Spatial distribution and seed mass variation ofStrophostyles helvolaalong Lake Erie

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Abstract
Field studies were conducted to determine the survival, seed-mass variability, and reproductive strategies of wild bean, Strophostyles helvola (L.) Ell., plants on the foredunes at Port Burwell Provincial Park along Lake Erie. In spring, a large number of seedlings were found on the drift-line (area of beach where detritis deposits are cast on shore by the waves) and a small number both on the lakeward (mid-beach) and landward (high-beach) ends of the drift-line. Plants growing on the mid-beach were larger and produced a significantly greater number of heavier seeds than those on the drift-line. However, during late fall and winter months, a large proportion of these seeds were moved by wind and wave action to the drift-line. Intraspecific competition was not a limiting factor on the mid-beach; however, on the drift-line, the number of seeds per plant decreased significantly with an increase in density of plants from about 1 to 140/m2, suggesting that intraspecific competition may be an important limiting factor in seed production per plant. The mean mass per seed significantly declined over the growing season of S. helvola. There was a significant increase in mean seed mass with increasing pod size. Seeds in the centre of a pod were significantly heavier than those at the proximal and distal ends of a pod. Strophostyles helvola is able to flourish in the constantly shifting shoreline beach habitats along Lake Erie owing to two main factors. First, it is able to fully utilize the highly variable beach microhabitats and maintain high total reproductive output per square metre. Second, since burial in sand is a major recurrent event on sandy beaches, the high variability in seed mass will be of adaptive significance because seedlings from large seeds will not only be able to emerge from greater depths of burial in sand but also will have greater probability of survival under burial conditions. Keywords: seed mass, plant location, Strophostyles helvola, seed position, spatial distribution.