Simulation of Seed Dispersal by Water (Hydrochorie) (since 2008)

We will develop a new process based simulation model addressing seed dispersal by water (hydrochory) and parameterise the model for more than 100 plant species and several types of rivers. The focus will be on plant species occurring along rivers, lakes and in fens. For selected plant species we will also analyse the relative importance of other dispersal types (anemochory, zoochory). Furthermore, we will apply the model to passively dispersed life stages of selected macro-zoobenthos organisms. The main tasks will comprise

• Development of new process-based model simulating seed dispersal by Water
• Parameterisation of the model for several river types typical for Central Europe
• Parameterisation of the model for many plant species occurring along rivers, lakes and in fens and for selected passively dispersed life stages of selected macro-zoobenthos organisms
• Validation of the developed models using empirically data