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It is essential to investigate both the spatio-temporal pattern of seed dispersal and the subsequent fate of offspring to evaluate the effect of dispersal on plant fitness. This paper examines the effectiveness of seed dispersal in terms of three selective advantages (i.e. avoidance of high mortality around the parent plant, finding ‘safe sites’, and directional dispersal) by synthesizing the results of studies on seed dispersal, post-dispersal mortality of seeds, and seedling survivorship of several tree species in an old-growth temperate forest community, the Ogawa Forest Reserve (OFR), Japan. Some species in the OFR apparently avoid high offspring mortality around parents in much the same way as other species have been found to do in other forests. Finding ‘safe sites’ and directional dispersal could also be important elements of seed dispersal; however, the importance of ‘safe sites’ in this context and their spatio …