How does increasing mast seeding frequency affect population dynamics of seed consumers? Wild boar as a case study

Touzot, Laura; Schermer, Éliane; Venner, Samuel; Delzon, Sylvain; Rousset, Cyril; Baubet, Éric; Gaillard, Jean‐Michel; Gamelon, Marlène

doi:10.1002/eap.2134

Cited by 48 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…The changes in seed production will determine the capacity of trees to disperse seed to the novel habitats they may occupy in the future (Clark et al, 2021; Ibáñez et al, 2008; Zhu et al, 2012). Furthermore, changes in masting patterns have tremendous ecosystem consequences as masting acts as pacemaker for trophic interactions (Ostfeld & Keesing, 2000; Touzot et al, 2020). Understanding the mechanistic drivers of changes in seed production is therefore necessary to predict how ongoing climate change will influence future forest dynamics and their food webs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate warming causes mast seeding to break down by reducing sensitivity to weather cues

Bogdziewicz

Hacket‐Pain

Kelly

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

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Climate change is altering patterns of seed production worldwide with consequences for population recruitment and migration potential. For the many species that regenerate through synchronized, quasiperiodic reproductive events termed masting, these changes include decreases in the synchrony and interannual variation in seed production. This breakdown in the occurrence of masting features harms reproduction by decreasing the efficiency of pollination and increasing seed predation. Changes in masting are often paralleled by warming temperatures, but the underlying proximate mechanisms are unknown. We used a unique 39‐year study of 139 European beech (Fagus sylvatica) trees that experienced masting breakdown to track the seed developmental cycle and pinpoint phases where weather effects on seed production have changed over time. A cold followed by warm summer led to large coordinated flowering efforts among plants. However, trees failed to respond to the weather signal as summers warmed and the frequency of reproductive cues changed fivefold. Less synchronous flowering resulted in less efficient pollination that further decreased the synchrony of seed maturation. As global temperatures are expected to increase this century, perennial plants that fine‐tune their reproductive schedules based on temperature cues may suffer regeneration failures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate warming causes mast seeding to break down by reducing sensitivity to weather cues

Bogdziewicz

Hacket‐Pain

Kelly

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

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“…For all study areas, we analyzed CMRR data using a multistate model (see Lebreton et al 2009 for a review) that allows annual natural mortality (NM j , t ) to be estimated separately from annual hunting mortality (HM j,t ) for each body mass class j . The model has already been fully described in previous works (Gamelon et al 2012, Touzot et al 2020) but we provide here a brief overview of its structure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of pulsed resources on the dynamics of seed consumer populations: a comparative demographic study in wild boar

Gamelon

Touzot

Baubet³

et al. 2021

Ecosphere

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Mast seeding is a well-known example of pulsed resources in terrestrial ecosystems. Despite the large literature available so far on the effects of mast seeding on the dynamics of seed consumer populations, it remains unknown whether heterogeneity in demographic responses to mast seeding exists both within a population of consumers and among consumer populations. Here, we fill this knowledge gap by assessing the effects of acorn production (i.e., oak mast) on all stage-specific demographic rates (i.e., survival, growth, reproduction) in several consumer populations. From long-term capture-mark-recapture data collected in three wild boar populations in Europe and detailed information on annual acorn production, we quantified the effects of acorn production on body mass-specific demographic rates in these populations. We then built a body mass-structured population model for each population and assessed the effect of acorn production on generation time-the mean age of mother at childbirth-and population growth rate using a combination of prospective and retrospective demographic analyses. Within populations, acorn production had a positive effect on reproduction (proportion of breeding females) and growth of small-sized females. Survival remained buffered against environmental variation, in accordance with the demographic buffering hypothesis. Thus, all stage-specific demographic rates were not influenced in the same way by acorn production. In turn, higher reproduction and growth probabilities involved higher population growth rates and shorter generation times. Despite these common demographic responses to mast seeding among populations, we highlighted marked among-population variation in the magnitude of these responses. Also, while populations inhabiting resource-rich environments took advantage of current acorn conditions, populations under resource-poor environments stored and allocated acorns produced the preceding year to reproduction indicating contrasting breeding tactics along the capital-income continuum. Our results suggest heterogeneity in demographic responses to mast seeding, within and among populations. This is an important finding for our understanding of the effects of mast seeding on the dynamics of seed consumer populations.

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“…Most of these studies focus on changes in the average or onset of phenological events, with less emphasis on changes in the length of flowering periods or changes in variation among individuals within populations (Zohner et al, 2018). Our results suggest that the nature of changes in flowering phenology can be a critical component to patterns of mast-seeding in trees, with subsequent cascading effects on consumer communities (Ostfeld and Keesing, 2000;Touzot et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Flowering synchrony drives reproductive success in a wind‐pollinated tree

et al. 2020

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Synchronised and quasi‐periodic production of seeds by plant populations, known as masting, is implicated in many ecological processes, but how it arises remains poorly understood. Flowering and pollination dynamics are hypothesised to provide the mechanistic link for the observed relationship between weather and population‐level seed production. We report the first experimental test of the phenological synchrony hypotheses as a driver of pollen limitation in mast seeding oaks (Quercus ilex). Higher flowering synchrony yielded greater pollination efficiency, which resulted in 2‐fold greater seed set in highly synchronised oaks compared to asynchronous individuals. Pollen addition removed the negative effect of asynchronous flowering on seed set. Because phenological synchrony operates through environmental variation, this result suggests that oak masting is synchronised by exogenous rather than endogenous factors. It also points to a mechanism by which changes in flowering phenology can affect plant reproduction of mast‐seeding plants, with subsequent implications for community dynamics.

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How does increasing mast seeding frequency affect population dynamics of seed consumers? Wild boar as a case study

Cited by 48 publications

References 69 publications

Climate warming causes mast seeding to break down by reducing sensitivity to weather cues

Climate warming causes mast seeding to break down by reducing sensitivity to weather cues

Effects of pulsed resources on the dynamics of seed consumer populations: a comparative demographic study in wild boar

Flowering synchrony drives reproductive success in a wind‐pollinated tree

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