Abstract
ABSTRACT We investigated factors driving flowering and flower maturation and their effects on acorn production at both the annual and individual trees levels in a population of valley oak ( Quercus lobata ) in central coastal California, USA. Among years, female flower production was negatively correlated with rainfall, while warm spring temperatures and a large acorn crop the previous year decreased the proportion of flowers maturing into acorns. Among trees, individuals with greater access to ground water growing in warmer microclimates produced more catkins and more female flowers. In addition, male and female flower abundance were positively correlated even after controlling for tree size and resources, countering the hypothesis of a life‐history tradeoff between investment in male and female flowering. Factors limiting pollen availability include weather‐driven effects (both the pollination Moran effect and environmental vetos), phenological synchrony, and pollen coupling, factors that were difficult to distinguish. All three flower indices explained a significant proportion of variance in acorn production at both the annual and individual tree levels. Most important, however, was variation in female flower maturation, while both female and male flower abundance explained between one‐quarter and one‐third of variance in acorn production. Quercus lobata is not only a flower maturation masting species, but also a female flower and male flower masting species. The underlying drivers of flower initiation, fertilization, and flower maturation yield important insights into the factors influencing masting behavior in perennial plants and represent an area that can benefit from more empirical study.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Female flower production was negatively correlated with rainfall across years.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobata
Quercus lobatat0 - Outcome
- female flower productione0
- Direction
- negatively correlatede0
Not reportedSetting
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Among years, female flower production was negatively correlated with rainfall”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
Warm spring temperatures decreased the share of flowers maturing into acorns.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Outcome
- proportion of flowers maturing into acornse0
- Direction
- decreasede0
- Setting
- warm spring temperaturese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“warm spring temperatures and a large acorn crop the previous year decreased the proportion of flowers maturing into acorns”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
A large previous acorn crop decreased flower maturation into acorns.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Outcome
- proportion of flowers maturing into acornse0
- Direction
- decreasede0
- Comparator
- a large acorn crop the previous yeare0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“warm spring temperatures and a large acorn crop the previous year decreased the proportion of flowers maturing into acorns”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
Trees with greater groundwater access in warmer microclimates produced more catkins.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Outcome
- catkinse0
- Direction
- moree0
- Setting
- warmer microclimatese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“individuals with greater access to ground water growing in warmer microclimates produced more catkins and more female flowers”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
Trees with greater groundwater access in warmer microclimates produced more female flowers.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Outcome
- female flowerse0
- Direction
- moree0
- Setting
- warmer microclimatese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“individuals with greater access to ground water growing in warmer microclimates produced more catkins and more female flowers”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
Male and female flower abundance were positively correlated after controlling for size and resources.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Organ / stage
- flowere0
- Outcome
- male and female flower abundancee0
- Direction
- positively correlatede0
- Qualifier
- controlling for tree size and resourcese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“male and female flower abundance were positively correlated even after controlling for tree size and resources”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
All three flower indices explained significant acorn production variance across years and trees.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Organ / stage
- flowere0
- Outcome
- variance in acorn productione0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“All three flower indices explained a significant proportion of variance in acorn production at both the annual and individual tree levels.”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
Female flower maturation was the most important source of acorn production variation.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Organ / stage
- female flowere0
- Outcome
- variation in female flower maturatione0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Most important, however, was variation in female flower maturation”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
Female and male flower abundance each explained between one-quarter and one-third of acorn production variance.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatat0
- Organ / stage
- female and male flowere0
- Outcome
- variance in acorn productione0
- Value
- between one‐quarter and one‐thirde0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“both female and male flower abundance explained between one‐quarter and one‐third of variance in acorn production”
t0“Quercus lobata”
t1“Quercus lobata”
Claim · model-written summary
Quercus lobata exhibits maturation and female and male flower masting.
- Taxon
- Quercus lobataQuercus lobatae0
- Outcome
- flower maturation masting species, but also a female flower and male flower masting speciese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Quercus lobata is not only a flower maturation masting species, but also a female flower and male flower masting species.”