On the Evolution of Masting Behavior in Trees: Predation or Weather?

Lalonde, R. G.; Roitberg, B. D.

doi:10.1086/285387

Cited by 58 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…We were able to detect signiWcant weather eVects on masting in spite of the fact that our data set combined data from a 1-year (Q. alba) and a 2-year (Q. rubra) masting oak species. Although we cannot speculate on the relative importance of acorn predation or weather in the evolution of masting (Lalonde and Roitberg 1992), our data suggest that weather conditions play a signiWcant role in interannual variation in acorn crops. Furthermore, the signiWcantly negative temporal autocorrelations we observed between acorn masts (t ¡ 2, t ¡ 3) are consistent with the idea that masting events require the sequestration of resources in intervening years (Sork et al 1993).…”

Section: Weather Evects On Acorn Mastmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Highly productive mast events typically occur every 2-6 years. Mast cycles vary among and within species (Sork et al 1993;Herrera et al 1998) as a function of weather conditions (Lalonde and Roitberg 1992). For some species, such as red (Quercus rubra) and white (Q. alba) oaks, spring temperatures are signiWcant predictors of annual variation in mast patterns (Sork et al 1993;Koenig and Knops 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Acorn mast drives long-term dynamics of rodent and songbird populations

et al. 2007

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Resource pulses can have cascading effects on the dynamics of multiple trophic levels. Acorn mast is a pulsed resource in oak-dominated forests that has significant direct effects on acorn predators and indirect effects on their predators, prey, and pathogens. We evaluated changes in acorn mast, rodent abundance, raptor abundance, and reproductive success of a ground-nesting songbird over a 24-year period (1980-2004) in the southern Appalachian Mountains in an effort to determine the relationships among the four trophic levels. In particular, we examined the following: acorn mast from red oaks (Quercus rubra) and white oaks (Q. alba), abundance of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and deer mice (P. maniculatus), population estimates of seven raptor species from three feeding guilds, and nest failure and number of juveniles of dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis). Finally, we recorded seasonal temperature and precipitation to determine the effects of weather on each trophic level. We found that weather patterns had delayed effects of up to 3 years on these trophic interactions. Variation in acorn mast, the keystone resource in this community, was explained by weather conditions as far back as 2 years before the mast event. Acorn mast, in turn, was a strongly positive predictor of rodent abundance the following year, whereas spring and summer temperature and raptor abundance negatively affected rodent abundance. Dark-eyed junco nests were more likely to fail in years in which there were more rodents and raptors. Nest failure rate was a strong predictor of the number of juvenile juncos caught at the end of the summer. Our results improve our understanding of the complex ecological interactions in oak-dominated forests by illustrating the importance of abiotic and biotic factors at different trophic levels.

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Section: Weather Evects On Acorn Mastmentioning

confidence: 67%

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confidence: 99%

Acorn mast drives long-term dynamics of rodent and songbird populations

et al. 2007

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“…Seeds might be more likely to escape predation in mast years than in non-mast years because of the satiation of predators' feeding capacity. This predator satiation hypothesis has been supported by many studies (Silvertown, 1980;Augspurger, 1981;Nilsson, 1985;Nilsson & WaK stljung, 1987;Smith, 1987;Matthysen, 1989;Ims, 1990a, b;Lalonde & Roitberg, 1992;Koenig et al, 1990;Koenig et al, 1994). Alternative, or additional adaptive functions of masting include an improved pollination e$ciency in mast years for normally outcrossing tree species (Nilsson & WaK stljung, 1987;Norton & Kelly, 1988;Smith et al, 1990;Koenig et al, 1994) and an enhanced attraction of seed dispersing animals (Christensen & Whitham, 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Pollen Coupling of Forest Trees: Forming Synchronized and Periodic Reproduction out of Chaos

Satake

Iwasa

2000

Journal of Theoretical Biology

221

365

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“…Larder hoarding permits the rapid accumulation of large amounts of seed and typically prevents the seed from successfully germinating even if it is not eventually consumed (Vander Wall 1990). Theoretical models that demonstrate a predator satiation benefit of masting assume seed consumers are characterized by a saturating functional response (Ims 1990;Lalonde and Roitberg 1992), and even with this assumption, high predator search efficiency combined with low handling times eliminate any benefits of masting (Lalonde and Roitberg 1992). Larder hoarding offers a granivore the potential of a non-saturating functional response, very low handling times and associated increases in search efficiency, and thus could plausibly eliminate the adaptive value of masting.…”

Section: Expenditure Constraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

The energetics of autumn mast hoarding in eastern chipmunks

et al. 2002

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The timing and basis of the transition from energy reserve accumulation to reserve utilization in autumn may be a key determinant of winter survival in endotherms, but has rarely been examined directly in the field. In the present study we quantify the energetics of autumn mast hoarding in eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) to document the degree to which larder hoarding permits capitalizing on brief pulses of resource abundance and to evaluate the basis of the decision to stop hoarding and initiate hibernation. Daily energy expenditure, measured with the doubly labeled water technique, increased significantly with date and decreasing ambient temperature, eventually exceeding 3× resting metabolic rate in late autumn. Simultaneous documentation of food delivery to burrow larder hoards revealed that delivery rates were low in early autumn, extremely high for a brief period in mid-autumn, then low again in late autumn. Combining estimates of energy expenditure, consumption, and delivery yielded net energy surpluses of 1,320-4,600 kJ day(-1) during the peak hoarding period, meaning total hibernation energy requirements could be acquired in 1-2 days. These results, together with measures of food availability and ambient temperature, suggest that chipmunk activity in late autumn may be affected by both the extent of hoard accumulation and thermoregulatory constraints on sustained energy expenditure. We speculate that both state-dependency and energetic ceilings on autumn hoarding behavior may enhance the capacity of the mast seeding strategy of trees to effectively swamp the foraging efforts of larder-hoarding granivores.

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On the Evolution of Masting Behavior in Trees: Predation or Weather?

Cited by 58 publications

References 15 publications

Acorn mast drives long-term dynamics of rodent and songbird populations

Acorn mast drives long-term dynamics of rodent and songbird populations

Pollen Coupling of Forest Trees: Forming Synchronized and Periodic Reproduction out of Chaos

The energetics of autumn mast hoarding in eastern chipmunks

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