Abstract
Dispersal ability of an invasive species is crucial for describing its potential spread. We explored dispersal spectra in Pinus strobus, an invasive tree in sandstone areas in Central Europe.
The empirical dispersal curves fitted to the observed data (based on distribution of self-sown trees in the field) were compared with theoretical dispersal curves (based on wind speed, seed terminal velocity and tree height). P. strobus seeds can disperse up to 757.5 m from the source.
The observed data fall within the confidence intervals of the predictions based on a negative exponential model. Different functions were the best predictors of different parts of the dispersal curve.
We suggest that future studies should provide not only empirical fitted dispersal curves but also observed data and provide estimates of confidence intervals to provide reliable dispersal estimates and help to evaluate the predictive power of the different models.