Final answer:
The number of seeds produced by a plant is inversely correlated with seed size; many small seeds suggest that fewer will germinate, while few large seeds have higher germination chances due to more invested energy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The number of seeds produced by a plant is typically inversely correlated with the size of the seeds. When two different plant species expend approximately the same amount of energy on reproduction, and one produces many seeds while the other produces very few, it generally indicates different reproductive strategies.
For the plant species producing many seeds, most of the energy is used to produce seeds, with the expectation that only a few will germinate and grow into adult plants. On the other hand, for the species that produces few seeds, more resources are allocated per seed, thereby increasing the chances of each seed's successful germination and growth into an adult plant. This strategy can be seen in different seed sizes, where plants producing many seeds tend to have smaller seeds, such as mustard seeds when compared to the larger pea, corn, or bean seeds that are produced less numerously.