Our compilation of mean and maximum dispersal distances
for over 200 species from 148 studies around the world has
given novel information about the relative effectiveness of different
dispersal syndromes and provided surprising insights
into correlations between seed dispersal distance and two crucial
plant traits, seed mass and plant height. Our most important
finding is that seed dispersal distance is more closely
correlated with plant height than with seed mass. Our data also
show that plant height should be considered when examining
the dispersal ability of species within all types of dispersal syndromes,
not just for wind-dispersed species. Plant traits play a
key role in our understanding of ecological systems. We hope
that future work will expand our findings to explore the possible
trade-offs between dispersal capacities and other important
life-history traits of species, such as longevity and reproductive
output.