Journal
ECOLOGY
Volume 99, Issue 11, Pages 2575-2582Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2510
Keywords
bottom-up effects; mast seeding; predator satiation; seed predation; seed survival; top-down effects
Categories
Funding
- U. S. National Science Foundation [DBI-9978807, DEB-0642594]
- Wilkes University Fenner Endowment
- US-NSF [DEB-1556707]
- Atraccion de Talento Investigador Programme (Gobierno de Extremadura) [TA13032]
- (Polish) National Science Foundation [2014/15/B/NZ8/00213, 2017/24/C/NZ8/00151]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The predator satiation hypothesis posits that masting helps plants escape seed predation through starvation of predators in lean years, followed by satiation of predators in mast years. Importantly, successful satiation requires sufficiently delayed bottom-up effects of seed availability on seed consumers. However, some seed consumers may be capable of quick aggregative and reproductive responses to masting, which may jeopardize positive density dependence of seed survival. We used a 17-yr data set on seed production and insect (Curculio weevils) infestation of three North American oaks species (northern red Quercus rubra, white Q. alba, and chestnut oak Q. montana) to test predictions of the predation satiation hypothesis. Furthermore, we tested for the unlagged numerical response of Curculio to acorn production. We found that masting results in a bottom-up effect on the insect population; both through increased reproductive output and aggregation at seed-rich trees. Consequently, mast seeding in two out of three studied oaks (white and chestnut oak) did not help to escape insect seed predation, whereas, in the red oak, the escape depended on the synchronization of mast crops within the population. Bottom-up effects of masting on seed consumer populations are assumed to be delayed, and therefore to have negligible effects on seed survival in mast years. Our research suggests that insect populations may be able to mount rapid reproductive and aggregative responses when seed availability increases, possibly hindering satiation effects of masting. Many insect species are able to quickly benefit from pulsed resources, making mechanisms described here potentially relevant in many other systems.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available