Number and weight of seeds and reproductive strategies of herbaceous plants

The paper brings data set of seed reproduction of about 500 wild herbaceous species of Central Europe and presents a number of produced seeds in a new way. Number of seeds - reproductive capacity of a population (RCP) was defined as a number of seeds produced by one species per 1 m(2) at its one-hundred-per-cent cover per one season. About 23% of seed weight variability and about 26% of variability in RCP were explainable on a family level. The trade-off between RCP and seed weight was confirmed both within families and also among families. Both characteristics had higher variability on a family level and on lower taxonomic levels than on subclass and class levels. Species with an annual life cycle have a larger number of seeds than perennials. Geophytes and species without lateral spread have a tendency to produce a large amount of relatively weighty seeds in comparison to other life forms, and to species with vegetative lateral spread. Species with seeds dispersed by wind usually have a large number of lightweight seeds. Multivariate analyses confirmed some tendencies of reproductive traits which correspond to the definition of C-, S-, R- strategies by Grime ,verification of the RCP as ecological trait. The R- strategy was well distinguished from the C- and S- strategies by reproductive traits, whereas C- and S- strategies are very similar to each other. Species with insect pollination agent often correspond to C- strategy, wind agent to S- strategy, and species with self-pollination to R- strategy.