Not necessarily. The mechanism that is explained here is about repairing damage from random mutations. Such DNA repair is costly and in a plant that produces lots of seeds it might be more efficient to just let those with mutations in critical genes die.
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.
Not necessarily. The mechanism that is explained here is about repairing damage from random mutations. Such DNA repair is costly and in a plant that produces lots of seeds it might be more efficient to just let those with mutations in critical genes die.
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.