Caribbean Fleshy-Fruited Plant Dispersal Potential and Buoy Trajectories

14 fleshy-fruited plant species from coastal Caribbean communities were assessed for thalassochoric dispersal potential by measuring floating duration and seed viability in saltwater. The dataset includes thalassochoric connectivity analysis between 44 Caribbean islands based on 1,198 drifter buoy trajectories recorded between 1991 and 2019. Authored by Seokmin Kim and last updated in May 2026, this 9.5 KB Excel file explores the role of ocean currents in plant distribution.

Use Cases

• Modeling potential seed dispersal pathways based on ocean current connectivity derived from buoy trajectories.
• Correlating species distribution patterns with thalassochoric dispersal potential measured as floating duration.
• Investigating alternative drivers of plant distribution, such as human usage, as suggested by the study's findings.

Strengths

• Includes measurements for 14 distinct fleshy-fruited plant species.
• Analyzes connectivity between 44 Caribbean islands using 1,198 drifter buoy paths.
• Covers a long-term temporal range for buoy data from 1991 to 2019.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small at 9.5 KB, indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Experimental measurement of plant buoyancy/viability and analysis of historical drifter buoy data.

Time Range

Buoy data from 1991 to 2019.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-27 17:36:07; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Caribbean islands.