Seeding ecological restoration of tropical forests: Priority setting under REDD+

► I review seed production, storage and dispersal in 15 important tropical tree families. ► Masting tree species appear to be important in neotropical as well as Asian forest. ► Recalcitrant seeds are common in many tropical forest timber species. ► Seed dispersal studies in tropical tree species suggest dispersal is often short. ► Ecological restoration of tropical forest needs to take seed related constraints into account.