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How will global change affect plant reproduction? A framework for mast seeding trends
Author(s) -
Bogdziewicz Michał
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.17682
Subject(s) - perennial plant , biology , mast (botany) , ecology , pollination , predation , seeding , climate change , seed predation , agronomy , population , seed dispersal , pollen , biological dispersal , demography , mast cell , immunology , sociology
Summary Forest ecology traditionally focuses on plant growth and survival, leaving seed production as a major demographic process lacking a framework for how it will be affected by global change. Understanding plant reproductive responses to changing climate is complicated by masting, the annually variable seed production synchronized within populations. Predicting trends in masting is crucial, because masting impacts seed predation and pollination enough to override simple trends in mean seed production. Proximate mechanisms of seed production patterns in perennial plants are gathered to identify processes through which masting may be affected by a changing environment. Predicting trends in masting will require understanding the mechanisms that cause predictable seed failure after high‐seed years, and the stochastic mechanisms that synchronize individuals in high‐seed years.