Recent Ecology paper co-authored by Jakub Szymkowiak from Pop Ecol Lab on system-specific roles of weather and pollination dynamics in driving seed production in European trees is now available online!
Using a 19-year data set from three sites in Poland, the authors investigated the relationship between weather, airborn pollen, and seed production in two oak species (Quercus petraea and Q. robur) and beech (Fagus sylvatica). They found that for oaks and beech, the warm summers preceding flowering correlated with high pollen abundance and warm springs resulted in high flowering synchrony (short pollen seasons). However, in beech the best predictor of seed crops was pollen abundance, while large seed crops in oaks correlated with short pollen seasons. These findings suggest that fundamentally different proximate mechanisms may drive masting in oaks and beech.
You can read the paper here and on ResearchGate. Read also what Jakub Szymkowiak wrote about this study on his page.
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