Geographical variation in climatic cues for mast seeding of Fagus crenata

Abstract

Geographical variation in climatic cues for masting of Fagus crenata Blume, which is the most dominant tree species in Japanese temperate forests, was investigated in the northern part of Japan, i.e., the Tohoku district of Honshu Island and the Oshima Peninsula of Hokkaido Island. The data obtained after an 18-year assessment (1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) of 163 stands, covering an area of ca. 200 9 500 km 2 area, were used in this study. In all stands, mast seeding occurred three times (1995, 2000 and 2005) during the study period and the coefficient of annual variation (CV) in seedfall density was 0.94. Based on cluster analysis, the stands were classified into each of the seven groups, in which the seedfall density was temporally synchronized among the stands and showed higher values of CV (1.04-1.79). These groups were distributed spatially exclusively at the scale of 80-200 km. By selecting the tree model based on AIC values, lower temperature in spring, higher temperature in summer and seedfall density in a year were proved to have a decisive influence on the seedfall density in the subsequent year. The effects of the first two climatic cues overwhelm that of the seedfall density. Lower temperature in spring served as a cue mostly for the population in the Oshima Peninsula, while higher temperature in summer served as a cue for the populations in the Tohoku district. If this suggests a genetic variation in relation to cues, climatic changes (e.g., global warming) will have different impacts on seed production of different F. crenata populations. However, it remains to be tested in future studies whether multiple climatic cues simply reflect regionally variable climatic conditions or not.

Individual-scale inference to anticipate climate-change vulnerability of biodiversity

“…Temperature is likewise decomposed into a site and a year effect. Spring temperature controls bud break, leaf and fruit set, and can have a large impact on tree carbon balance [33][34][35][36]. We use the annual temperature for January through March for site j in year t. The site effect is taken to be the average winter/spring temperature W j , and the year effect is the annual departure from that average, w j,t .…”

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“…In particular, manuscripts focusing on plant and animal-plant interaction are increasing. We published eight papers (20.0%) from these research fields in 2008 (i.e., Ando and Ohgushi 2008;Berry et al 2008;Chien et al 2008;Evans et al 2008;Kelly et al 2008a, b;Masaki et al 2008;Yoshimoto and Nishida 2008). The increase in the number of manuscripts on bird and marine/aquatic invertebrate populations is also noteworthy, although their absolute numbers are still not too large (i.e., Duhem et al 2008;Fujisaki et al 2008;Ripley and Caswell 2008;Takada 2008).…”

Seed production and recruitment in primary and harvested Nothofagus pumilio forests: Influence of regional climate and years after cuttings

“…Richardson et al (2005) related seed production of Nothofagus solandri with temperature, finding that cold and humid summers produce a higher number of fruits, whereas Smaill et al (2011) also determined the influence of rainfall for the same species. Kon et al (2005) found correlations between 9 Regeneration, harvesting and climate minimum temperatures of the previous spring and seed production of Fagus crenata forests, as well as Masaki et al (2008). James (2011) found correlations between growth and recruitment of Larix sibirica and Picea obovata with fires, land use climate (temperature during different seasons).…”