Is the selective advantage to dispersal an escape to from disproportionate mortality near parent plant? Density-dependent mortality of seed or seedling near the parent might be due to insect or rodent predation, pathogen attack, or seedling competition. Or distance respontive seed predator might search for food only in the immediate vicinity of parent plans, ignoring seed and seedling only a few meters away. The Escape hypothesis can be falsified by showing that mortality is random with respect to density of siblings or distance from the parent; no per-capita adventage exists because density-independent mortality reduces numbers below that at which predation, disease, and competition take their toll. It is plausible to suppose that few seeds under a parent establish and ultimately reproduce; it is fair to ask whether those 10 or 100 meters away are any better off.