biostudies-literatureUnknown13(1)Qiu TThe relationships that control seed production in trees are fundamental to understanding the evolution of forest species and their capacity to recover from increasing losses to drought, fire, and harvest. A synthesis of fecundity data from 714 species worldwide allowed us to examine hypotheses that are central to quantifying reproduction, a foundation for assessing fitness in forest trees. Four major findings emerged. First, seed production is not constrained by a strict trade-off between seed size and numbers. Instead, seed numbers vary over ten orders of magnitude, with species that invest in large seeds producing more seeds than expected from the 1:1 trade-off. Second, gymnosperms have lower seed production than angiosperms, potentially due to their extra investments in protective woodyNature communications2381https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9061860biostudies-literatureLimits to reproduction and seed size-number trade-offs that shape forest dominance and future recovery.PMC9061860Courbaud BGratzer GZlotin RLefevre FCleavitt NLGuo QCourbet FWright BMotta RSwenson JJSutton SDelzon SReid CDMoran ESeget BThomas PAWhitham TGLedwon MMacias DGehring CAVacchiano GKnops JMHHampe ARodriguez-Sanchez FUriarte MKilner CLZywiec MCalderon SDHan QKobe RKGreenberg CHRodman KCAscoli DNagel TAAndrus RCaignard TPoulton-Kamakura RGilbert GSLimousin JMDormont LPoulsen JBerveiller DSchlesinger WHRedmond MDSanguinetti JDFarfan-Rios WCurt TZimmerman JKZhu KAravena MCScher CLStephenson NLDas AJHacket-Pain APiechnik LPerez-Ramos IMLutz JABerretti RHoshizaki KWright SJClark JSQiu TKunstler GFahey TJBragg DCMyers JAVeblen TTDietze MCamarero JJSharma SStraub JNLageard JGALaMontagne JMDelpierre NDavi HOurcival JMWhipple AVEspelta JCalama RBonal RParmenter RMoore CMNoguchi KBoivin TSwift MKabeya DSun IFBogdziewicz MDaskalakou EMcIntire EJBIbanez ISteele MAHille Ris Lambers JJohnstone JFJourne VWion APSchmidt Van Marle HLeininger TPearse ISKitzberger TBergeron YSilman MChang-Yang CHfalseLimits to reproduction and seed size-number trade-offs that shape forest dominance and future recovery.The relationships that control seed production in trees are fundamental to understanding the evolution of forest species and their capacity to recover from increasing losses to drought, fire, and harvest. A synthesis of fecundity data from 714 species worldwide allowed us to examine hypotheses that are central to quantifying reproduction, a foundation for assessing fitness in forest trees. Four major findings emerged. First, seed production is not constrained by a strict trade-off between seed size and numbers. Instead, seed numbers vary over ten orders of magnitude, with species that invest in large seeds producing more seeds than expected from the 1:1 trade-off. Second, gymnosperms have lower seed production than angiosperms, potentially due to their extra investments in protective woody2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 May2025-04-25T18:09:23.754Z2025-04-25T18:09:23.754ZS-EPMC90618603550131310.1038/s41467-022-30037-9