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Within‐population spatial synchrony in mast seeding of North American oaks
Author(s) -
Liebhold Andrew,
Sork Victoria,
Peltonen Mikko,
Koenig Walter,
Bjørnstad Ottar N.,
Westfall Robert,
Elkinton Joseph,
Knops Johannes M. H.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
oikos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.672
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1600-0706
pISSN - 0030-1299
DOI - 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12722.x
Subject(s) - intraspecific competition , interspecific competition , mast (botany) , biology , seeding , spatial variability , population , ecology , habitat , agronomy , mast cell , statistics , demography , mathematics , sociology , immunology
Mast seeding, the synchronous production of large crops of seeds, has been frequently documented in oak species. In this study we used several North American oak data‐sets to quantify within‐stand (<10 km) synchrony in mast dynamics. Results indicated that intraspecific synchrony in seed production always exceeded interspecific synchrony and was essentially constant over distances ranging from 100 m to 10 km. Asynchrony between species was at least partially attributable to differences in the endogenous dynamics in seed production caused by the varying numbers of years (1 or 2) required to mature seeds. Similarly, the magnitude of intraspecific seed production synchrony was related to intraspecific variation in endogenous dynamics; this intraspecific variation could be caused by spatial variation in habitat conditions. These results indicate that both interspecific and intraspecific variation in the endogenous processes generating variability in seed production may influence the magnitude of spatial synchrony in total (all species) mast production. Such findings may be of significance to understanding interactions between synchrony in mast seeding and animal consumer populations.