Bad seed: The role of seed mass in dispersal and seedling success in the non-native, invasive perennial, Vincetoxicum rossicum

Invasive plants pose a threat to local floras in many locations around the world. Invasion by non-native perennial vine Vincetoxicum rossicum (pale swallow-wort) in the northeastern United States and southern Ontario has recently attracted attention with its propensity to form monocultures in urban parklands. The goal of this study was to comprehensively assess whether seed mass affected the dispersal and subsequent success of seeds. Seed germination, seedling over-winter survivorship, and seedling presence in the second year were taken as measures of early colonization success. Increased seed mass predicted germination and subsequent seedling success. But seed mass did not predict decreased dispersal and because of this no evidence for a biological meaningful dispersal-establishment trade-off was found.