Sure, there can be different effective strategies here. On the other hand, natural selection would favor plants that can spread as many viable seeds as possible. So, you also have a selection pressure to ensure that a large number of seeds takes root. Meanwhile, additional energy cost is only a constraint assuming the plant is getting just enough energy to get by.
It makes sense that organisms would evolve to prevent random mutations in DNA that’s critical to the survival of the organism.
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Sure, there can be different effective strategies here. On the other hand, natural selection would favor plants that can spread as many viable seeds as possible. So, you also have a selection pressure to ensure that a large number of seeds takes root. Meanwhile, additional energy cost is only a constraint assuming the plant is getting just enough energy to get by.