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Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2015, 5(4): 148-156
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Article

Where do diaspores come from? Reverse wind modelling unveils plant colonization trajectories

Alessandro Ferrarini
Department of Evolutionary and Functional Biology, University of Parma, Via G. Saragat 4, I-43100 Parma, Italy

Received 1 August 2015;Accepted 10 September 2015;Published online 1 December 2015
IAEES

Abstract
In alpine habitats, wind is the predominant dispersal vector of diaspores (seeds and spores). The wind flow field in mountain areas depends on the interaction of wind with topography which creates very complex patterns for both wind directions and speeds. Most alpine species utilize wind transport for diaspore dispersal, and more than 90% are anemochorous. The transport of diaspores is to date considered a forward (ahead in time) problem, i.e. from actual diaspore locations to future ones. I argue here that, using appropriate reverse mathematical modelling, the problem can be reversed: starting from actual locations of plants and diaspores, one can evince the trajectories that led to actual positions. So doing, one can reconstruct the trajectories followed by plant species to reach actual niches. A particular application of this approach is the individuation of corridors followed by exotic plant species. The ad-hoc software Wind-Lab has been realized which incorporates both forward and backward wind modelling. The model described here might be of importance in geobotany, climatic ecology and plant conservation biology.

Keywords evolutionary modelling;GIS;partial differential equations;plant colonization;reverse modelling;seeds;spores;wind flow.

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