Dispersão natural de sementes: importância, classificação e sua dinâmica nas pastagens tropicais

The plant propagation by seed dispersion is recognized as one of the fundamental factors that affect the recruitment of the plants and is an important step of the reproductive cycle of most of them. The dispersion reduces the predation levels in the proximities of adult plants of the same species, increases the chance of seed germination and establishes new habitats favorable to the colonization. Besides, the dispersion of seeds also generates wider spacial distribution of adult plants population. The importance of natural seeding in the renewal and persistence of species in pastures is recognized, but it is a little known subject, the understanding of the dispersion process under a new perspective from the point of view of modern, sustainability based, production models, where wild animals are compatible with agricultural production based on pastures. With this revision, it was aimed to trace the path of the studies on dispersion of seeds, with emphasis in the classification systems, the types, the dispersers, the seeds dispersion processes among habitats, the evaluation of the dispersion potential of vegetable species through ruminant, and the applications and current limitations of seeds dispersion, and contribute for construction of a new development conception based in sustainability of the agricultural production systems.