The ecology and evolution of synchronized reproduction in long-lived plants

Abstract

Populations of many long-lived plants exhibit spatially synchronized seed production that varies extensively over time, so that seed production in some years is much higher than on average, while in others, it is much lower or absent. This phenomenon termed masting or mast seeding has important consequences for plant reproductive success, ecosystem dynamics and plant–human interactions. Inspired by recent advances in the field, this special issue presents a series of articles that advance the current understanding of the ecology and evolution of masting. To provide a broad overview, we reflect on the state-of-the-art of masting research in terms of underlying proximate mechanisms, ontogeny, adaptations, phylogeny and applications to conservation. While the mechanistic drivers and fitness consequences of masting have received most attention, the evolutionary history, ontogenetic trajectory and applications to plant–human interactions are poorly understood. With increased availability of long-term datasets across broader geographical and taxonomic scales, as well as advances in molecular approaches, we expect that many mysteries of masting will be solved soon. The increased understanding of this global phenomenon will provide the foundation for predictive modelling of seed crops, which will improve our ability to manage forests and agricultural fruit and nut crops in the Anthropocene. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The ecology and evolution of synchronized seed production in plants’.

Global patterns in the predator satiation effect of masting: A meta-analysis

“…Reproduction of many perennial plants is characterized by synchronous interannual variation in seed production, known as “masting” or “mast seeding” ( 1 – 3 ). Mast seeding is a global phenomenon reported in dominant species in boreal and temperate forests of North America, Europe, Asia, and South America; in forests and herbaceous species in Oceania; and in tropical systems including tropical woodland, neotropical rainforests, and Dipterocarp forests in southeast Asia ( 4 , 5 ).…”

Climate change and plant reproduction: trends and drivers of mast seeding change

“…A further challenge in attributing observed changes in masting to climate change is isolating the effects of climate change from those related to ontogeny [35]. Masting scales with plant size as larger plants reproduce more regularly, and therefore have less variable reproduction [33].…”

“…Furthermore, detecting trends in masting and attributing them to climate change is challenging owing to the lack of long-term data required to detect changes in highly variable time series. Furthermore, older, and larger plants can mast more frequently and show higher synchrony, further complicating efforts to isolate the effect of climate change [33,34,35]. Recently, data and methods have become available, allowing the first assessments of long-term changes in masting.…”

Natural disturbances and masting: from mechanisms to fitness consequences

“…Research on the adaptive significance of masting has mostly focused on processes inducing an economy of scale, which has been empirically demonstrated for pollination, predation and, to some degree, dispersal [3,93]. A less tested hypothesis for the evolutionary emergence and persistence of masting postulates that environmental variability acts not only as a cue for increased reproductive output but also as a driver for selection of masting in plant populations [94].…”