ArticleNature communications2023
Evolution of masting in plants is linked to investment in low tissue mortality.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Consistent root microbiomes across contrasting habitats in a wild perennial vine.Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany) · 2026Article
- Geography of masting creates greater synchrony in seed scarcity than in seed abundance.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Weather drivers of reproductive variability in perennial plants and their implications for climate change risks.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Intraspecific variation in masting across climate gradients is inconsistent with the environmental stress hypothesis.Ecology · 2025Article
- Masting ontogeny: the largest masting benefits accrue to the largest trees.Annals of botany · 2025Article
- Relatives reproduce in synchrony: kinship and individual condition shape intraspecific variation in masting phenotype.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Masting, a variable and synchronized variation in reproductive effort is a prevalent strategy among perennial plants, but the factors leading to interspecific differences in masting remain unclear. Here, we investigate interannual patterns of reproductive investment in 517 species of terrestrial perennial plants, including herbs, graminoids, shrubs, and trees. We place these patterns in the context of the plants' phylogeny, habitat, form and function. Our findings reveal that masting is widespread across the plant phylogeny. Nonetheless, reversion from masting to regular seed production is also common. While interannual variation in seed production is highest in temperate and boreal zones, our analysis controlling for environment and phylogeny indicates that masting is more frequent in species that invest in tissue longevity. Our modeling exposes masting-trait relationships that would otherwise remain hidden and provides large-scale evidence that the costs of delayed reproduction play a significant role in the evolution of variable reproduction in plants.
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Registered trials
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