Abstract
ABSTRACT Analyses of the variation in the abortion rate and mass of seeds of tropical trees are scarce, despite their importance in modulating seed production, plant recruitment, and herbivore foraging patterns. We studied these reproductive processes in a tropical dry forest tree species. We studied the patterns of intrafruit abortion and seed mass in fruits of the Guanacaste tree, Enterolobium cyclocarpum , in samples of trees from 5 populations in Mexico and Costa Rica. We analyzed the effects of developmental phase, fruit and maternal tree effects, and seed position within the fruit on the abortion rate and mass of seeds from mature and immature fruits. Naturally pollinated flowers were studied to determine the patterns of ovule fertilization within the ovaries. Overdispersion of the abortion rate per fruit within trees and a higher frequency of abortions in the extreme positions of the fruit were common patterns in all populations. These patterns were observed from the beginning of fruit formation. Ovules in the stylar position do not have higher survival rates, despite their precedence in fertilization. A negative relationship was found between abortion events and seed mass. Fruit‐specific fertilization and developmental conditions seem to be the main factors driving the fruit abortion rate and seed mass, causing high variability in seed survival and mass within maternal trees. The correlation between the fruit abortion rate and seed mass may be related to the capacity of the fruit to drain maternal resources. These patterns are common to all studied Guanacaste tree populations.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Seed abortion rates were overdispersed per fruit within trees in all populations.
- Taxon
- Guanacaste tree
Enterolobium cyclocarpumt0 - Outcome
- abortion rate per fruit within treese0
- Qualifier
- all populationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Overdispersion of the abortion rate per fruit within trees and a higher frequency of abortions in the extreme positions of the fruit were common patterns in all populations.”
t0“Guanacaste Tree”
Claim · model-written summary
Abortion was more frequent at the extreme positions of fruit in all populations.
- Taxon
- Guanacaste treeEnterolobium cyclocarpumt0
- Organ / stage
- extreme positions of the fruite0
- Outcome
- frequency of abortionse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Qualifier
- all populationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a higher frequency of abortions in the extreme positions of the fruit were common patterns in all populations.”
t0“Guanacaste Tree”
Claim · model-written summary
The abortion patterns were present from the beginning of fruit formation.
- Taxon
- Guanacaste treeEnterolobium cyclocarpumt0
- Organ / stage
- beginning of fruit formatione0
- Outcome
- These patternse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These patterns were observed from the beginning of fruit formation.”
t0“Guanacaste Tree”
Claim · model-written summary
Stylar ovules did not have higher survival despite earlier fertilization.
- Taxon
- Guanacaste treeEnterolobium cyclocarpumt0
- Organ / stage
- Ovules in the stylar positione0
- Outcome
- survival ratese0
- Direction
- do not have highere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Ovules in the stylar position do not have higher survival rates, despite their precedence in fertilization.”
t0“Guanacaste Tree”
Claim · model-written summary
Abortion events were negatively related to seed mass.
- Taxon
- Guanacaste treeEnterolobium cyclocarpumt0
- Organ / stage
- seede0
- Outcome
- seed masse0
- Direction
- negativee0
- Qualifier
- abortion eventse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A negative relationship was found between abortion events and seed mass.”
t0“Guanacaste Tree”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors infer fruit-specific fertilization and developmental conditions drive abortion rate and seed mass.
- Taxon
- Guanacaste treeEnterolobium cyclocarpumt0
- Outcome
- fruit abortion rate and seed masse0
- Qualifier
- Fruit‐specific fertilization and developmental conditionse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Fruit‐specific fertilization and developmental conditions seem to be the main factors driving the fruit abortion rate and seed mass, causing high variability in seed survival and mass within maternal trees.”
t0“Guanacaste Tree”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest the abortion–mass correlation may reflect the fruit’s capacity to drain maternal resources.
- Taxon
- Guanacaste treeEnterolobium cyclocarpumt0
- Outcome
- correlation between the fruit abortion rate and seed masse0
- Qualifier
- capacity of the fruit to drain maternal resourcese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The correlation between the fruit abortion rate and seed mass may be related to the capacity of the fruit to drain maternal resources.”
t0“Guanacaste Tree”