Evolutionary advantages of mast seeding in <i>Fagus crenata</i>

Kon, Hirokazu; Noda, Takashi; Terazawa, Kazuhiko; Koyama, Hiromasa; Yasaka, Michiyasu

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.01040.x

Cited by 84 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Based on scant circumstantial evidence from the distribution of trees, Finckh & Paulsch (1995) and Veblen (1982) speculated that Austral parakeets might disperse the seeds, but seed-carrying has not been observed. A few studies (Kon et al 2005) have shown that seed predators exert selective pressure on tree reproductive synchrony, but no previous work has been directed at the interaction of pre-dispersal predation with pehuén masting cycles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Araucaria araucana and the Austral parakeet: pre-dispersal seed predation on a masting species

Shepherd

Ditgen

Sanguinetti

2008

Rev. chil. hist. nat.

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Pre-dispersal seed predation by Austral parakeets, Enicognathus ferrugineus, on pehuén, Araucaria araucana, was studied to assess the relationship between predation and seed production. We collected falling seeds in four araucaria forests of southwestern Neuquén Province, Argentina during four years that included both mast and intermast years. Predation rates were negatively correlated with seed production. When seed production was high, predation rates ranged from 0.6 to 3.3 %; when it was low, predation rates ranged from 13.0 to 20.6 %. Years differed in the pattern of monthly seed fall with peak seed fall in March 2002 and April 2003. Predation rates were lower and more uniform in the year of higher seed production, but did not differ between sites. In an intermast year, predation rates increased during the season, reaching their highest rates after peak seed fall. Parakeets handled seeds differently in mast and intermast years, dropping fewer slightly-damaged seeds when production was low. We discuss these results in the context of the predator satiation hypothesis.Key words: pre-dispersal seed predation, masting, Araucaria araucana, Enicognathus ferrugineus RESUMEN Se estudió la depredación predispersión de semillas del Pehuén, Araucaria araucana, por la cachaña, Enicognathus ferrugineus, para evaluar la relación entre depredación y producción de semillas. Durante cuatro años, incluyendo años de alta ("semillazón") y baja producción de semillas, se colectaron semillas caídas de los árboles en bosques del sudoeste de la Provincia del Neuquén, Argentina. Se detectó una correlación negativa entre depredación y producción de semillas. En los años de alta y baja producción de semillas, las tasas de depredación variaron entre 0,6 y 3,3 % y entre 13,0 y 20,6 %, respectivamente. Entre años existe una variación en el patrón temporal de caída de semillas, con picos de caída en marzo y abril para 2002 y 2003, respectivamente. La tasa de depredación de semillas fue más baja y uniforme en el año de alta producción de conos pero no fue diferente entre sitios. En el año de baja producción de conos, la depredación aumentó durante la temporada, observándose la máxima depredación luego del pico de caída de semillas. La cachaña manipula las semillas con diferente eficiencia en años de alta y baja producción de conos, dejando caer menos semillas parcialmente dañadas en años de baja producción. Se discuten estos resultados en el contexto de la hipótesis sobre saciedad de predadores.Palabras clave: depredación predispersión de semillas, Araucaria araucana, Enicognathus ferrugineus

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Araucaria araucana and the Austral parakeet: pre-dispersal seed predation on a masting species

Shepherd

Ditgen

Sanguinetti

2008

Rev. chil. hist. nat.

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“…Therefore, plant crop size seems to be a better predictor of seed losses than seed mass and it is possible that among year fluctuations in crop sizes may benefit plants from Cerrado. Populations of specialized seed predators may decline in years with no or low seed production, being more easily satiated in a subsequent year of high seed production as predicted by the predator satiation hypothesis in mast seeding species (Kelly & Sork 2002;Kon et al 2005). Future studies may evaluate this possibility.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately there is no data available to evaluate this hypothesis at the moment. Seed predation may also be subjected to temporal fluctuations that influence the satiation of predators (Kelly & Sork 2002;Kon et al 2005;Żywiec et al 2013;Bogdziewicz et al 2017). For instance, in tropical dry forests of Mexico, Erythroxylym havanense shows density-dependent seed predation in some years, while in other years seed predation fluctuate at random (Boege & Domínguez 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…trees compared to shrubs and herbs) (Bogdziewicz et al 2017;and references therein). Individual plant energy reserves, fl uctuations in environmental conditions and outcross pollen limitation may produce temporal variations in seed crops (Kon et al 2005). Plants producing smaller seeds also tend to have larger individual seed crops than plants with comparatively larger seeds (Moles & Westoby 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As seed predators may severely decrease the availability of seeds for recruitment, they could be a powerful ecological and evolutionary force shaping several plant traits, including crop size of plants (Hulme & Benkman 2002;Kon et al 2005;Kolb et al 2007). Certain plants may produce great amounts of seeds, thus generating a very high but ephemeral concentration of resources in time and space that may satiate seed predators and increase the likelihood of individual seed survival (Kelly & Sork 2002;Kon et al 2005). In this case the amount of seed losses would stop to increase after crop size surpasses a value that saturates the possibility of oviposition and larval growth of insects (predator satiation hypothesis).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crop size influences pre-dispersal seed predation in the Brazilian Cerrado

Christianini¹

2017

Acta Bot. Bras.

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Many pre-dispersal seed predators are specialized insects that rely on seeds for larval development. Th ese insects may respond to the amount of seeds produced by a plant (i.e. crop size), increasing the proportion of seeds damaged with increases in seed numbers. Large seeds have more resources and spend more time in plants to complete their development and are probably more prone to be preyed on by those insects than small seeds. Here I tested how crop size and seed mass infl uence pre-dispersal seed predation in plants from the Cerrado savannas of Brazil. I related plant crop size to pre-dispersal seed predation for Xylopia aromatica and Erythroxylum pelleterianum. A literature review was performed to test if seed mass may explain among-species diff erences in pre-dispersal seed predation. Pre-dispersal losses increased proportionally to crop size in the two species investigated, but some species show positive or no density-dependent seed predation in literature, indicating that seed losses are not a simple function of crop sizes. Seed mass did not explain pre-dispersal seed loss diff erences among 14 species with data available. Pre-dispersal losses are often small and probably less important than seed dispersal and establishment limitation for plant recruitment in Cerrado savannas.

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Synchronized expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T between branches underlies mass flowering in Fagus crenata

et al. 2018

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Masting is the intermittent and synchronized production of a large amount of flower and seed in plant populations. This population-level phenomenon is caused by individual-level variability in reproduction and its synchrony between individuals. The variability at the individual level is induced by synchronized reproduction between branches within an individual because a tree is an assemblage of branches that are considered as semiautonomous units. However, there have been no empirical studies that quantify the degree of reproductive synchrony at the branch level within the same tree in masting species. Here, we evaluated the reproductive synchrony within individuals by monitoring flowering dynamics and expression level of a flowering-time gene at the branch-level in a typical masting species, Fagus crenata Blume. The 4-year census showed that the branch-level gene expression was highly variable between years and was strongly synchronized between branches. The branch-level synchrony in flowering-time gene expression was followed by coherent flowering cycle at the whole individual. To examine the causal relationship between gene expression and climatic factors, we performed a nonlinear statistical analysis called convergent cross-mapping using the time course data of gene expression and environmental variables. Our results indicated that the observed gene expression pattern was well cross-mapped by temperature or precipitation. However, this cross-mapping skill was lower than that of randomly generated seasonal dynamics, implying a combination of internal and external environmental signals is more likely to regulate gene expression dynamics in F. crenata. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that synchronized expression of a flowering-time gene between branches underlies integrated flowering behavior at the individual level.

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Evolutionary advantages of mast seeding in Fagus crenata

Cited by 84 publications

References 43 publications

Araucaria araucana and the Austral parakeet: pre-dispersal seed predation on a masting species

Araucaria araucana and the Austral parakeet: pre-dispersal seed predation on a masting species

Crop size influences pre-dispersal seed predation in the Brazilian Cerrado

Synchronized expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T between branches underlies mass flowering in Fagus crenata

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