what is dispersal of seeds

Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant to ensure the germination and survival of some of the seeds to adult plants. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, such as the wind, and living (biotic) vectors such as birds and animals. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant individually or collectively, as well as dispersed in both space and time. The patterns of seed dispersal are determined in large part by the dispersal mechanism and this has important implications for the demographic and genetic structure of plant populations, as well as migration patterns and species interactions. There are different ways in which seeds from its parent plant are dispersed, including seed dispersal by wind, water, animals, and gravity.