1. Globally, tree fecundity exceeds productivity gradients.
- Author
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Journé V, Andrus R, Aravena MC, Ascoli D, Berretti R, Berveiller D, Bogdziewicz M, Boivin T, Bonal R, Caignard T, Calama R, Camarero JJ, Chang-Yang CH, Courbaud B, Courbet F, Curt T, Das AJ, Daskalakou E, Davi H, Delpierre N, Delzon S, Dietze M, Donoso Calderon S, Dormont L, Maria Espelta J, Fahey TJ, Farfan-Rios W, Gehring CA, Gilbert GS, Gratzer G, Greenberg CH, Guo Q, Hacket-Pain A, Hampe A, Han Q, Lambers JHR, Hoshizaki K, Ibanez I, Johnstone JF, Kabeya D, Kays R, Kitzberger T, Knops JMH, Kobe RK, Kunstler G, Lageard JGA, LaMontagne JM, Leininger T, Limousin JM, Lutz JA, Macias D, McIntire EJB, Moore CM, Moran E, Motta R, Myers JA, Nagel TA, Noguchi K, Ourcival JM, Parmenter R, Pearse IS, Perez-Ramos IM, Piechnik L, Poulsen J, Poulton-Kamakura R, Qiu T, Redmond MD, Reid CD, Rodman KC, Rodriguez-Sanchez F, Sanguinetti JD, Scher CL, Marle HSV, Seget B, Sharma S, Silman M, Steele MA, Stephenson NL, Straub JN, Swenson JJ, Swift M, Thomas PA, Uriarte M, Vacchiano G, Veblen TT, Whipple AV, Whitham TG, Wright B, Wright SJ, Zhu K, Zimmerman JK, Zlotin R, Zywiec M, and Clark JS
- Subjects
- Biodiversity, Climate, Fertility, Seeds, Forests, Trees
- Abstract
Lack of tree fecundity data across climatic gradients precludes the analysis of how seed supply contributes to global variation in forest regeneration and biotic interactions responsible for biodiversity. A global synthesis of raw seedproduction data shows a 250-fold increase in seed abundance from cold-dry to warm-wet climates, driven primarily by a 100-fold increase in seed production for a given tree size. The modest (threefold) increase in forest productivity across the same climate gradient cannot explain the magnitudes of these trends. The increase in seeds per tree can arise from adaptive evolution driven by intense species interactions or from the direct effects of a warm, moist climate on tree fecundity. Either way, the massive differences in seed supply ramify through food webs potentially explaining a disproportionate role for species interactions in the wet tropics., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Published
- 2022
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