Editing Parthenocarpy (section)

== Ecological importance ==
Parthenocarpy of some fruits on a plant may be of value. Up to 20% of the fruits of wild [[parsnip]] are parthenocarpic. The seedless wild parsnip fruit are preferred by certain herbivores and so serve as a "decoy defense" against [[seed predation]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zangerl AR, Nitao JK, Berenbaum MR |title=Parthenocarpic fruits in wild parsnip: decoy defence against a specialist herbivore |journal=Evolutionary Ecology |volume=5 |pages=136–45 |year=1991 |doi=10.1007/BF02270830 |issue=2 |bibcode=1991EvEco...5..136Z |s2cid=44584261 }}</ref> [[Juniperus osteosperma|Utah juniper]] has a similar defense against bird feeding.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Fuentes M, Schupp EW |title=Empty seeds reduce seed predation by birds in ''Juniperus osteosperma'' |journal=Evolutionary Ecology |volume=12 |pages=823–7 |year=1998 |doi=10.1023/A:1006594532392 |issue=7|bibcode=1998EvEco..12..823F |s2cid=19570153 }}</ref> The ability to produce seedless fruit when [[pollination]] is unsuccessful may be an advantage to a plant because it provides food for the plant's seed dispersers. Without a fruit crop, the seed dispersing animals may starve or migrate.

In some plants, pollination or another stimulation is required for parthenocarpy, termed '''stimulative parthenocarpy'''. Plants that do not require pollination or other stimulation to produce parthenocarpic fruit have '''vegetative parthenocarpy'''. Seedless [[cucumber]]s are an example of vegetative parthenocarpy, seedless [[watermelon]] is an example of stenospermocarpy as they are immature seeds (aborted ones).

Plants that moved from one area of the world to another may not always be accompanied by their pollinating partner, and the lack of [[pollinator]]s has spurred human cultivation of parthenocarpic varieties.