Fire history and weather interact to determine extent and synchrony of mast-seeding in rhizomatous scrub oaks of Florida.

ABSTRACT: In disturbance-prone ecosystems, fitness consequences of plant reproductive strategies are often determined by the relative timing of seed production and disturbance events, but the role of disturbances as proximate drivers of seed production has been overlooked. We use long-term data on seed production in Quercus chapmanii, Q. geminata and Q. inopina, rhizomatous oaks found in south central Florida's oak scrub, to investigate the role of fire history and its interaction with weather in shaping acorn production and its synchrony. Acorn production increased with the time since last fire, combined with additive or interactive effects of spring precipitation (+) or drought (-). Furthermore, multiple matrix regression models revealed that ramet pairs with shared fir

SUBMITTER: Pesendorfer MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8520774 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature