Long-distance seed dispersal is a crucial process determining the distribution of plant biodiversity and, therefore, of major interest in biogeography and macroecology. A recent data article on Global Ecology and Biogeography presented a database of estimated seed-dispersal distance classes for the European flora, where the classes are defined by the morphological dispersal syndrome of species associated with a single dispersal mode. We explain how this article overlooks literature on the unreliable capacity of dispersal syndromes for predicting key dispersal modes involved in long-distance seed dispersal. Consequently, the published database does not consider the possibility that individual species can naturally be dispersed through multiple modes (polychory). Most importantly, the database consistently omits seed-dispersal modes that can mediate dispersal distances several orders of magnitude longer than the mode predicted by the syndromes. This is the case of many terrestrial and aquatic plants dispersed by animals, notably ungulates and waterbirds, and that of coastal plants dispersed by the sea. We thus urge caution when using this database to model potential plant dispersal because long-distance seed dispersal is underestimated in many species.

中文翻译：

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被忽视的种子传播模式和低估的距离

长距离种子传播是决定植物生物多样性分布的关键过程，因此在生物地理学和宏观生态学中具有重要意义。最近一篇关于全球生态学和生物地理学的数据文章提出了欧洲植物区系的估计种子传播距离类别的数据库，其中类别是根据与单一传播模式相关的物种的形态传播综合症来定义的。我们解释了本文如何忽略了关于传播综合症预测长距离种子传播中涉及的关键传播模式的不可靠能力的文献。因此，已发布的数据库没有考虑单个物种可以通过多种模式（多群）自然分散的可能性。最重要的是，该数据库始终忽略种子传播模式，这些模式可以介导传播距离比综合症预测的模式长几个数量级。许多由动物（尤其是有蹄类动物和水鸟）传播的陆生和水生植物以及由海洋传播的沿海植物都是这种情况。因此，我们敦促在使用该数据库来模拟潜在的植物传播模型时要小心，因为许多物种的长距离种子传播被低估了。