These friends are so valuable that many tree species pack their fruits and nuts with extra resources and advertise them with colorful displays, all to attract their important mutualist dispersers. The same tree species that attract seed predators may also depend on mammals and birds to disperse their seeds, he suggested. Third is synchronicity, representing a common trend where many trees bear large seed crops in the same years.īut there is a problem with this explanation for masting, pointed out the study’s senior author James Clark, Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science at Duke University, who has built the Mast Inference and Forecasting network, better known as MASTIF. The second is periodicity, which refers to the time interval between the years of high seed production. The first is volatility, which reflects the amount seeds fluctuate year to year. In the paper, the researchers introduce three elements of masting based on 12 million tree-year observations worldwide. ![]() Our research revealed that masting relies on three critical aspects that affect both trees’ friends and foes, seed dispersers and seed predators.” “This seed-production strategy potentially hampers the ability of seed consumers to mitigate the effects of interannual fluctuations by foraging among various host trees. “When trees have big swings in seed production, take a long time between high seed years and all produce lots of seeds at the same time, predators can be overwhelmed,” Qiu said. During lean years of seed production, conservationists may choose to plant seeds manually or implement measures to protect struggling animal populations.”Įrratic seed crops may help trees confound their seed predators, but Qiu and colleagues wondered what they do to the seed dispersers the trees may need to insure successful germination? If unreliable seed production that thwarts a tree’s "enemies" has the same negative impacts on their disperser friends, they hypothesized, then perhaps the tree species that rely most heavily on animal disperser species must forego this defensive option. “Understanding masting patterns can guide forest managers in their conservation efforts. “At the same time, some seeds that aren't eaten during the mast year might germinate and grow into new trees, and this can lead to an increase in tree numbers, affecting the forest's overall growth and the habitat for other creatures,” Qiu said. But in the years following a mast, when seed production is low, these animals might struggle to find enough food, and this could lead to a drop in their populations. ![]() Their populations grow because there is plenty of food for them to eat and feed their offspring. When there are a lot of seeds, seed consumers such as birds, squirrels and insects have a feast. ![]() Seeds, fruits and nuts - high in carbohydrate, fat and protein content - are among the highest quality plant foods in nature, noted the study’s lead author Tong Qiu, assistant professor in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |