• Studies find the seeds of a forest's ren

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Monday, May 02, 2022 22:30:42
    Studies find the seeds of a forest's renewal after wildfire, drought
    Seed production of more than 700 trees species worldwide quantified,
    assessed with climate lens

    Date:
    May 2, 2022
    Source:
    Duke University
    Summary:
    By quantifying the seed production of more than 700 trees species
    worldwide and how each species' productivity can vary by location,
    two new studies can help boost the success of efforts to replant
    and restore forests after devastating wildfires, droughts or other
    disturbances. The studies, which synthesize data on species from
    the tropics to subarctic regions, are the first to quantify global
    patterns in tree seed production.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A forest's ability to regenerate after devastating wildfires, droughts or
    other disturbances depends largely on seed production. Findings from two
    new studies led by Duke University researchers could boost recovery and replanting after these disasters by providing foresters with new guidance
    on which trees species produce more seeds and how their productivity
    can vary from location to location.


    ========================================================================== "Knowing which species produce more seeds and in which habitats helps
    us better understand how to manage for seed trees and optimize forest regeneration, especially in areas where seed is limited, like much of the western U.S.," said James S. Clark, Nicholas Distinguished Professor
    of Environmental Science at Duke, who was corresponding author on
    both papers.

    Clark and his colleagues published their peer-reviewed studies May 2 in
    Nature Communications and April 23 inEcology Letters.

    The studies come at a time of growing concern about many forests' ability
    to recover from increasingly frequent and severe droughts and wildfires
    linked to climate change and increased harvesting to meet growing human
    demand for wood and other timber products.

    On April 25, the Biden Administration announced a new initiative in which
    the departments of Agriculture and Interior will team with states, tribes,
    and the private sector to increase federal cone and seed collection and seedling nursery capacity, with the goal of expanding forest replanting programs, especially in Western timberlands burnt by recent wildfires.

    "Our findings, which are the first to establish global patterns in tree
    seed production and quantify how many seeds different species produce
    under different conditions, could be very useful for these types of
    forest management and renewal initiatives worldwide," Clark said.



    ==========================================================================
    The studies synthesize data on seed production for more than 700 species
    - - from the tropics to subarctic regions -- and shed new light on how
    tree fecundity and seed supply contribute to forest regeneration and biodiversity in different climatic zones, he said. That knowledge is
    essential to understanding the evolution of forest species and how they
    respond to losses.

    One of the most unexpected findings from the studies is that trees in
    the wet tropics collectively produce 250 times more seeds than those in
    dry boreal forests.

    The fact that there are more big trees in the wet tropics and they
    produce, on average, 100 times more seeds than trees of the same size
    in boreal regions, may explain why species interactions are so intense
    in tropical forests, Clark said.

    Another key finding is that seed production is not constrained by
    seed size.

    This dispels a popular assumption that species that produce larger
    seeds must produce proportionately fewer of them and, as a result,
    be more susceptible to loss.

    "Not true," Clark said. "While trees that have larger seeds do produce
    fewer than trees with small seeds, we found they nonetheless produce
    more than previously believed. When you multiply the number of seeds
    by seed size, you find that the big-seed species are generating more reproductive output overall." A third intriguing finding is that
    gymnosperms, or conifers, have lower seed production than angiosperms,
    or flowering trees, possibly because gymnosperms expend so much energy
    on making protective cones for their seeds. Knowing this can help guide
    the replanting and management of many of the Western forests scotched
    by recent wildfires, Clark said.



    ==========================================================================
    It also may yield a clue to help solve Darwin's famous "abominable
    mystery" of why so many species of flowering plants developed during
    the Cretaceous Period, 145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago, while
    most other species (other than dinosaurs) lagged.

    "This is the first time we've had evidence that links seed production
    directly to species fitness," Clark said. "It may be that high seed
    production is what made flowering plants fit enough to flourish and evolve under the trying conditions of the Cretaceous, just as it does today." Researchers from 70 institutions contributed to the Nature Communications paper. Principal funding came from the National Science Foundation, the
    Belmont Forum, NASA, and France's Programme d'Investissement d'Avenir
    ("Make Our Planet Great Again") initiative.

    Researchers from 67 institutions contributed to the Ecology Letters paper.

    Principal funding for it came from the National Science Foundation,
    the Belmont Forum and France's Programme d'Investissement d'Avenir
    ("Make Our Planet Great Again") initiative.

    In addition to Clark's primary faculty appointment at Duke's Nicholas
    School, he holds an appointment at the Universite' Grenoble Alpes through
    the Institute National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation
    et l'Environnement.

    Tong Qiu, a postdoctoral associate of Clark's at the Nicholas School,
    was lead author of the Nature Communications paper.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Duke_University. Note: Content may
    be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal References:
    1. Tong Qiu, Robert Andrus, Marie-Claire Aravena, Davide Ascoli, Yves
    Bergeron, Roberta Berretti, Daniel Berveiller, Michal Bogdziewicz,
    Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Don C. Bragg, Thomas Caignard, Rafael
    Calama, J.

    Julio Camarero, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Natalie L. Cleavitt, Benoit
    Courbaud, Francois Courbet, Thomas Curt, Adrian J. Das, Evangelia
    Daskalakou, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Michael
    Dietze, Sergio Donoso Calderon, Laurent Dormont, Josep Espelta,
    Timothy J. Fahey, William Farfan-Rios, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory
    S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzer, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew
    Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers,
    Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Valentin
    Journe', Daisuke Kabeya, Christopher L. Kilner, Thomas Kitzberger,
    Johannes M. H. Knops, Richard K. Kobe, Georges Kunstler, Jonathan
    G. A. Lageard, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, Francois
    Lefevre, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana
    Macias, Eliot J. B. McIntire, Christopher M. Moore, Emily Moran,
    Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Kyotaro Noguchi,
    Jean-Marc Ourcival, Robert Parmenter, Ian S. Pearse, Ignacio M.

    Perez-Ramos, Lukasz Piechnik, John Poulsen, Renata Poulton-Kamakura,
    Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, Francisco
    Rodriguez- Sanchez, Javier D. Sanguinetti, C. Lane Scher, William
    H. Schlesinger, Harald Schmidt Van Marle, Barbara Seget, Shubhi
    Sharma, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson,
    Jacob N. Straub, I-Fang Sun, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson,
    Margaret Swift, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano,
    Thomas T. Veblen, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Andreas
    P. Wion, Boyd Wright, S. Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman,
    Roman Zlotin, Magdalena Zywiec, James S. Clark.

    Limits to reproduction and seed size-number trade-offs that shape
    forest dominance and future recovery. Nature Communications, 2022;
    13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30037-9
    2. Valentin Journe', Robert Andrus, Marie‐Claire Aravena, Davide
    Ascoli, Roberta Berretti, Daniel Berveiller, Michal Bogdziewicz,
    Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Rafael Calama,
    Jesu's Julio Camarero, Chia‐Hao Chang‐Yang,
    Benoit Courbaud, Francois Courbet, Thomas Curt, Adrian J. Das,
    Evangelia Daskalakou, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain
    Delzon, Michael Dietze, Sergio Donoso Calderon, Laurent Dormont,
    Josep Maria Espelta, Timothy J. Fahey, William Farfan‐Rios,
    Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzer, Cathryn
    H. Greenberg, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket‐Pain, Arndt Hampe,
    Qingmin Han, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines
    Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Daisuke Kabeya, Roland Kays, Thomas
    Kitzberger, Johannes M. H. Knops, Richard K. Kobe, Georges Kunstler,
    Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Theodor Leininger,
    Jean‐Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Eliot J. B.

    McIntire, Christopher M. Moore, Emily Moran, Renzo Motta,
    Jonathan A.

    Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Kyotaro Noguchi, Jean‐Marc Ourcival,
    Robert Parmenter, Ian S. Pearse, Ignacio M. Perez‐Ramos,
    Lukasz Piechnik, John Poulsen, Renata Poulton‐Kamakura,
    Tong Qiu, Miranda D.

    Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, Francisco
    Rodriguez‐Sanchez, Javier D. Sanguinetti, C. Lane Scher,
    Harald Schmidt Van Marle, Barbara Seget, Shubhi Sharma, Miles
    Silman, Michael A.

    Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jacob N. Straub, Jennifer J. Swenson,
    Margaret Swift, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano,
    Thomas T. Veblen, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Boyd Wright,
    S. Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman, Roman Zlotin,
    Magdalena Zywiec, James S. Clark. Globally, tree fecundity exceeds
    productivity gradients.

    Ecology Letters, 2022; DOI: 10.1111/ele.14012 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220502125407.htm

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