ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2021
Modes of climate variability bridge proximate and evolutionary mechanisms of masting.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Global patterns in the predator satiation effect of masting: A meta-analysis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Pooled it
- Masting Breakdown in European Beech Reduces Fitness Benefits of Masting, Partly Explained by Climate Change.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- An Ecological Dipole in North American Mast-Eating Small Mammal Dynamics.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Weather drivers of reproductive variability in perennial plants and their implications for climate change risks.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Summer solstice orchestrates the subcontinental-scale synchrony of mast seeding.Nature plants · 2024Article
- Macroevolutionary consequences of mast seeding.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Natural disturbances and masting: from mechanisms to fitness consequences.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Review
- The ecology and evolution of synchronized reproduction in long-lived plants.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Review
- Climate change and plant reproduction: trends and drivers of mast seeding change.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- The effects of ENSO and the North American monsoon on mast seeding in two Rocky Mountain conifer species.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- By wind or wing: pollination syndromes and alternate bearing in horticultural systems.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
There is evidence that variable and synchronous reproduction in seed plants (masting) correlates to modes of climate variability, e.g. El Niño Southern Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation. In this perspective, we explore the breadth of knowledge on how climate modes control reproduction in major masting species throughout Earth's biomes. We posit that intrinsic properties of climate modes (periodicity, persistence and trends) drive interannual and decadal variability of plant reproduction, as well as the spatial extent of its synchrony, aligning multiple proximate causes of masting through space and time. Moreover, climate modes force lagged but in-phase ecological processes that interact synergistically with multiple stages of plant reproductive cycles. This sets up adaptive benefits by increasing offspring fitness through either economies of scale or environmental prediction. Community-wide links between climate modes and masting across plant taxa suggest an evolutionary role of climate variability. We argue that climate modes may 'bridge' proximate and ultimate causes of masting selecting for variable and synchronous reproduction. The future of such interaction is uncertain: processes that improve reproductive fitness may remain coupled with climate modes even under changing climates, but chances are that abrupt global warming will affect Earth's climate modes so rapidly as to alter ecological and evolutionary links. This article is part of the theme issue 'The ecology and evolution of synchronized seed production in plants'.
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