Question

Seeds are adaptively important because:
A. They maintain dormancy.
B. They protect young plants during vulnerable stages.
C. They store food for young plants and facilitate dispersal.
D. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: A seed's primary purpose is to ensure the survival of a species. The plant embryo is kept alive inside the seed by all of the functional systems until the environment is favourable for the seed to germinate and the seedling to survive. A number of factors, such as the amount of sunlight, moisture, and temperature, have an impact on seed germination. A species goes extinct when seeds don't grow into seedlings that bloom and produce offspring.

Step by step solution:
The survival of plant species depends on the distribution of their seeds. If plants become too crowded, they must contend with one another for soil nutrients, light, and water. Thanks to seed dispersal, plants can disperse across a wide area without competing for the same resources.
The dispersal of plant species' seeds is essential to their survival. Plants will compete with one another for soil nutrients, light, and water if they are overcrowded. Plants can spread over a large region without competing for the same resources thanks to seed dispersal.
Away from the parent plant, seeds can be dispersed single or in groups, as well as through time and space. The dispersal mechanism, which has significant ramifications for plant population demography and genetic structure, as well as migration patterns and species interactions, substantially controls seed dispersal patterns.
Many different plant species are thought to benefit from seed dissemination. To begin with, when the parent plant is removed, seed survival is frequently increased. This higher survival rate could be attributed to illnesses and density-dependent seed and seedling predators, which typically attack the large numbers of seeds beneath adults. Moving seeds away from their parent plant may lessen competition from adult plants.

So, option D is correct.

Note: The five primary methods of seed spread are gravity, wind, ballistic, water, and animal dissemination. Some plants are serotinous, which means they only disperse their seeds in response to an environmental trigger. Dispersal is the separation or letting free of a diaspore from the main parent plant.