Publication
Title
Weather and trade-offs between growth and reproduction regulate fruit production in European forests
Author
Abstract
Some tree species have a highly variable year-to-year pattern of reproduction which has repercussions for the entire ecosystem. Links between meteorological variability, fruit production and crown cover, and trade-offs between reproduction and vegetative growth, remain elusive, despite a long history of research. We explored how meteorological conditions determined variations in fruit production and crown cover and how remotely sensed vegetation indices, such as the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), may be used to characterize the fluctuations in fruit production. We used data for fruit production from six European tree species (Abies alba, Picea abies, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea and Q. robur) growing in monospecific stands, EVI and seasonal meteorological variables (precipitation and temperature) for 2002–2010. Weather accounted for fruit production better than EVI. Deciduous trees were more responsive to weather than evergreens, most notably to different seasonal temperatures, which were positively correlated mainly with crown cover and fruit production in deciduous species. Our results also suggested different patterns of relationships between fruit production, crown cover and weather, indicating different strategies of resource management. These patterns indicated a possible internal trade-off in evergreens, with resources allocated to either growth or reproduction. In contrast, in deciduous species we found no evidence for such a trade-off between vegetative growth and reproduction.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Agricultural and forest meteorology. - Amsterdam
Publication
Amsterdam : 2019
ISSN
0168-1923
DOI
10.1016/J.AGRFORMET.2019.107711
Volume/pages
279 (2019) , 10 p.
Article Reference
107711
UNSP 107711
ISI
000500197400022
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Effects of phosphorus limitations on Life, Earth system and Society (IMBALANCE-P).
Global Ecosystem Functioning and Interactions with Global Change.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 12.09.2019
Last edited 02.10.2024
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