Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
33
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
33 results for “mast seeding”
Negative temporal autocorrelation in mast seeding dynamics positively influences both the long and short-term dynamics of a wild boar population
<p><span>Temporal autocorrelation in environmental conditions influences population dynamics through its effects on vital rates. However, a comprehensive understanding of how and to what extent temporal autocorrelation shapes population dynamics is still lacking because most empirical studies have unrealistically assumed that environmental conditions are temporally independent. Mast seeding is a biological event characterized by highly fluctuating and synchronized seed production at the tree population scale, as well as a marked negative temporal autocorrelation. In the current context of global change, mast seeding events are expected to become more frequent, leading to strengthened negative temporal autocorrelations and thereby amplified cyclicality in mast seeding dynamics with cycles of length 2 years. </span><span>Theory predicts that population growth rates are maximized when the environmental cyclicality of consumer resources and their generation times are closely matched. </span><span>To test this prediction, we took advantage of the long-term monitoring of a wild boar population, a widespread seed consumer species characterized by a short generation time (ca. 2 years). As expected, simulations indicated that its stochastic population growth rate increased as mast seeding dynamics became more negatively autocorrelated. Our findings demonstrate that accounting for temporal autocorrelations in environmental conditions relative to generation time of the focal population is required, especially under global warming where the cyclicality in resource dynamics is likely to change.</span></p>
Data from: Co-Mast: Harmonized seed production data for woody plants across U.S. long term research sites
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Negative temporal autocorrelation in mast seeding dynamics positively influences both the long and short-term dynamics of a wild boar population
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Mast seeding patterns are asynchronous at a continental scale
<p>Resource pulses are rare events with a short duration and high magnitude that drive the dynamics of both plant and animal populations and communities. Mast seeding is perhaps the most common type of resource pulse that occurs in terrestrial ecosystems, is characterized by the synchronous and highly variable production of seed crops by a population of perennial plants, is widespread both taxonomically and geographically, and is often associated with nutrient scarcity. The rare production of abundant seed crops (mast events) that are orders of magnitude greater than crops during low seed years leads to high reproductive success in seed consumers and has cascading impacts in ecosystems. Although it has been suggested that mast seeding is potentially synchronized at continental scales, studies are largely constrained to local areas covering tens to hundreds of kilometres. Furthermore, summer temperature, which acts as a cue for mast seeding, shows patterns at continental scales manifested as a juxtaposition of positive and negative anomalies that have been linked to irruptive movements of boreal seed-eating birds. Here, we show a breakdown in synchrony of mast seeding patterns across space, leading to asynchrony at the continental scale. In an analysis of synchrony for a transcontinental North America tree species spanning distances of greater than 5,200 km, we found that mast seeding patterns were significantly asynchronous at distances of greater than 2,000 km apart (all <i>P</i> < 0.05). Other studies have shown declines in synchrony across distance, but not asynchrony. Spatiotemporal variation in summer temperatures at the continental scale drives patterns of synchrony in mast seeding, and we anticipate that this affects the spatial dynamics of numerous seed-eating communities, from insects to small mammals to the large-scale migration patterns of boreal seed-eating birds.</p>
Does mast seeding shape mating time in wild boar? A comparative study
In seasonal environments, the timing of reproduction often matches with the peak of food resources. One well-known effect of global warming is an earlier phenology of resources, leading to a possible mismatch between timing of reproduction for consumers and food peak. However, global warming may also change the dynamics of food resources, such as the intensity and frequency of pulsed mast seeding. How quantitative changes in mast seeding influence the timing of reproduction of seed consumers remains unexplored. Here, we assess how yearly variation in mast seeding influences mating time in wild boar (Sus scrofa), a widespread seed consumer species. We took advantage of the intensive monitoring of both female reproduction (1,636 females) and acorn production over 6 consecutive years across 15 populations of wild boar in the wild. We found that mating time occurs earlier when acorn production increases in most but not all populations. In three out of fifteen populations, heavy females mated earlier than light ones. Our findings demonstrate that mast seeding does shape mating time in wild boar females, but differently across populations. This high plasticity of mating times in wild boar indicates that females locally adapt to environmental conditions.
Data from: Mast seeding in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is associated with reduced fungal sporocarp production and community diversity
<p>A time series of seed production data from European beech (<em>Fagus sylvatica</em>) was combined with a fungal census (1977 to 2006) from La Chanéaz Fungus Reserve to evaluate the relationship between mast seeding and fungal resource availability. Annual fungal species' counts, traits, contemporaneous weather and seed production data are available here, alongside the code used to complete the analyses.</p>
Mast seeding records in North American Pinaceae and summer temperature data (1960-2014)
<p>Mast seeding database compilation for conifer tree reproduction in North America (belonging to genus: <em>Abies</em>, <em>Picea</em>, <em>Pinus</em>, <em>Tsuga</em>). All data included in analyses met the criteria that they: i) had at least 6 years of mast seeding data for a species of coniferous tree in North America, ii) data were collected on a continuous scale (e.g., based on seed traps, visual cone counts, or cone scars), iii) occurred between 1960-2014, and iv) for a taxon to be included in the study, there was a minimum of 10 separate time series at the level of the genus. Data from distinct sites or on different species were included separately. Data are standardized to values between 0-100 for each dataset.</p> <p>Summer temperature data are based on ClimateNA, including mean annual July temperatures from 1960-2014 for each location where there is mast-seeding data, and the difference in consecutive summer mean July temperatures.</p>
How does increasing mast seeding frequency affect population dynamics of seed consumers? Wild boar as a case study
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Mast seeding records in North American Pinaceae and summer temperature data (1960-2014)
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Mast seeding in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is associated with reduced fungal sporocarp production and community diversity
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Mast seeding patterns are asynchronous at a continental scale
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Does mast seeding shape mating time in wild boar? A comparative study
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Masting and seed fate data of Castanopsis fargesii
<p>Masting is a common reproductive strategy regulating seedling regeneration in many perennial plant species. The evolutionary origins and functional benefits of masting have been explained by well-supported hypotheses relating to economies of scale of seed production. Nevertheless, our understanding of the potential costs of masting for the plant seed-to-seedling transitions remains limited.</p> <p>We evaluated the annual seed production of <em>Castanopsis fargesii</em>, a dominant species of subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in China from 2013 to 2018. We also tracked the seed fate for the mature seeds in the seed-to-seedling transition. Each type of killed seed (such as predated by rodents and insects, or germinated failure) were evaluated. We measured the seed mass of all intact seeds using a precision electronic balance. This dataset contains the masting data, seed fate data and seed mass data of <em>C. fargesii</em> for more than six years.</p>
Data from: Within-season synchrony of a masting conifer enhances seed escape
Predator satiation resulting from interannual reproductive synchrony has been widely documented in masting plants, but how reproductive synchrony within a year influences seed escape is poorly understood. We evaluated whether the intra-annual reproductive synchrony of individual white spruce trees (Picea glauca) increased seed escape from their primary predispersal seed predator, North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Trees with cones that matured synchronously relative to those of other trees within red squirrel territories were significantly more likely to escape squirrel predation in years with both low and superabundant levels of cone production, generating a significantly positive linear selection differential for increasing intra-annual reproductive synchrony. Thus, this masting plant escapes seed predation in numbers through interannual synchrony in seed production and in time through intra-annual synchrony of seed availability.
Data files for «Wood warbler population dynamics in response to mast seeding regimes in Europe», Journal: Ecology
<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>Mast seeding is the episodic, massive production of plant seeds synchronized over large areas. The resulting superabundance of seeds represents a resource pulse that can profoundly affect animal populations across trophic levels. Following years of high seed production, abundances of both seed consumers and their predators increase. Higher predator abundance leads to increased predation pressure across the trophic web, impacting non-seed consumers such as the wood warbler <i>Phylloscopus sibilatrix</i> through increased nest predation after tree mast years. Over the past 30 years, the frequency of tree seed masts has increased while wood warbler populations have declined in several regions of Europe. We hypothesised that increasing mast frequencies may have contributed to the observed population declines by creating suboptimal breeding conditions in years after masting. We measured reproductive output in four study areas in central Europe, which was between 0.61 and 1.24 fledglings lower in years following masting than non-masting. For each study area, we used matrix population models to predict population trends based on the estimated reproductive output and the local mast frequencies. We then compared the predicted with the observed population trends to assess if the frequency of mast years contributed to the population dynamics. In Wielkopolska National Park (PL) and Hessen (DE), masting occurred on average only every 4 years and populations were stable or nearly so, whereas in Jura (CH) and Białowieża National Park (PL), masting occurred every 2 and 2.5 years, respectively, and populations were declining. The simple matrix population models predicted the relative difference among local population trends over the past 10-20 years well, suggesting that the masting frequency may partly explain regional variation in population trends. Simulations suggest that further increases in mast frequency will lead to further declines in wood warbler populations. We show that changes in a natural process, such as mast seeding, may contribute to the declines of animal populations through cascading effects.</p>
The effects of ENSO and the North American monsoon on mast seeding in two Rocky Mountain conifer species
<p>We aimed to disentangle the patterns of synchronous and variable cone production (i.e., masting) and its relationship to climate in two conifer species native to dry forests of western North America. We used cone abscission scars to reconstruct ca. 15 years of recent cone production in <i>Pinus edulis </i>and<i> Pinus ponderosa</i>, and used redundancy analysis to relate time series of annual cone production to climate indices describing the North American monsoon and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We show that the sensitivity to climate and resulting synchrony in cone production varies substantially between species. Cone production among populations of <i>P. edulis</i> was much more spatially synchronous and more closely related to large-scale modes of climate variability than were populations of <i>P. ponderosa</i>. Large-scale synchrony in <i>P. edulis</i> cone production was associated with the North American monsoon and we identified a dipole pattern of regional cone production associated with ENSO phase. In <i>P. ponderosa</i>, these climate indices were not strongly associated with cone production, resulting in asynchronous masting patterns among populations. This study helps frame our understanding of mast seeding as a life history strategy and has implications for our ability to forecast mast years in these species.</p>
Data from: Seed masting causes fluctuations in optimum litter size and lag load in a seed predator
The episodic production of large seed crops by some perennial plants (masting) is known to increase seed escape by alternately starving and swamping seed predators. These pulses of resources might also act as an agent of selection on the life histories of seed predators, which could indirectly enhance seed escape by inducing an evolutionary load on seed predator populations. We measured natural selection on litter size of female North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) across 28 years and five white spruce (Picea glauca) masting events. Observed litter sizes were similar to optimum litter sizes during non-mast years but were well below optimum litter sizes during mast years. Mast events, therefore, caused selection for larger litters (' = 0.25) and a lag load (L = 0.25) on red squirrels during mast years. Reduced juvenile recruitment associated with this lag load increased the number of spruce cones escaping squirrel predation. Although, offspring and parents often experienced opposite environments with respect to the mast, we found no effect of environmental mismatches across generations on either offspring survival or population growth. Instead, squirrels plastically increased litter sizes in anticipation of mast events, which partially, although not completely, reduced the lag load resulting from this change in food availability. These results, therefore, suggest that in addition to ecological and behavioural effects on seed predators, mast seed production can further enhance seed escape by inducing maladaptation in seed predators through fluctuations in optimal trait values.
Data from: Boom and bust: The effects of masting on seed predator range dynamics and trophic cascades
<p><strong>Aim: </strong>Spatiotemporal variation in resource availability is a strong driver of animal distributions. In northern hardwood and boreal forests of the northeastern United States, tree mast events provide resource pulses that drive the population dynamics of small mammals, including the American red squirrel (<em>Tamiasciurus hudsonicus</em>), a primary songbird nest predator. This study sought to determine whether mast availability ameliorates their abiotic limits, enabling red squirrel elevational distributions to temporarily expand and negatively impact high elevation songbirds.</p> <p><strong>Location: </strong>Northeastern United States</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> We used two independent datasets to evaluate our hypotheses. First, we fit a dynamic occupancy model using data from camera trap surveys to evaluate red squirrel distributional responses to pulses in tree mast. We also assessed population responses using systematic auditory surveys analyzed with an open-population binomial mixture model. Further, we used modeled red squirrel abundance in nest-survival models to evaluate whether their abundance is correlated with daily nest survival of three songbird species.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Tree mast provided a critical resource pulse that resulted in a two-fold increase in the annual elevational distribution of red squirrels. The elevational distribution of red squirrels ranged from a minimum of ~450 m (range: 663 – 1145 m asl) following two consecutive years without a masting event to a maximum of over 1000 m (range: 443 – 1545 m asl) after a large mast event. Daily nest survival of three songbird species tended to decline with an increase in the abundance of red squirrels.</p> <p><strong>Main Conclusions:</strong> Tree mast is a central biological phenomenon in many temperate and boreal forests. This study reveals how this resource pulse results in range changes in a small mammal that is both a seed and bird predator, as well as prey for many carnivores. Thus, understanding this phenomenon can inform the conservation and management of northern forests, including breeding songbirds.</p>
Consumption of red maple in anticipation of beech mast-seeding drives reproduction in Eastern chipmunks
1. Understanding the determinants of reproduction is a central question in evolutionary ecology. In pulsed resources environments, the reproduction and population dynamics of seed consumers is driven by pulsed production of seeds by trees, or mast-seeding. In Southern Québec, eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) exclusively reproduce during the summer before and the spring after a mast-seeding event of American beech. They thus seem to anticipate beech mast by reproducing during early summer, so that juveniles can emerge at the time of maximum beechnut abundance during late summer. 2. However, the cues allowing chipmunks to anticipate beech mast remain unknown, and the existence of the anticipation process itself has been questioned. To tackle those issues, we investigated the links between the nutritional ecology and reproduction of adult chipmunks and compared their spring diet in mast- vs post-mast years. 3. We monitored female's reproductive status (N=446), analyzed cheek pouch contents at capture (n=3761 captures), and recorded seed production by deciduous trees on three different sites in Mont-Sutton from 2006 to 2018. 4. Results revealed a systematic shift in chipmunk diet towards red maple seeds in springs preceding a beech mast, with red maple seeds composing more than 77% of chipmunk diet. However, red maple consumption was unrelated to red maple production, but was related to beech seed production in the upcoming fall. We also found that red maple consumption best predicted the proportion of females in summer estrus. 5. Our results confirm that chipmunks anticipate beech mast-seeding and suggest a key role of red maple consumption in that anticipation. Results also suggest that red maple seeds may contain nutrients or secondary-plant components essential to sustain or trigger the summer reproduction in chipmunks, which allow them to remain synchronized with pulsed productions of both red maple and beech and improve their fitness. 08-Jan-2020
Data for: Fire history and weather interact to determine extent and synchrony of mast-seeding in rhizomatous scrub oaks of Florida
<p>In disturbance-prone ecosystems, fitness consequences of plant reproductive strategies are often determined by the relative timing of seed production and disturbance events, but the role of disturbances as proximate drivers of seed production has been overlooked. We use long-term data on seed production in <i>Quercus chapmanii</i>, <i>Q. geminata</i>, and <i>Q. inopina</i>, rhizomatous oaks found in Southcentral Florida's oak scrub, to investigate the role of fire history and its interaction with weather in shaping acorn production and its synchrony<i>. </i>Acorn production increased with the time since last fire, combined with additive or interactive effects of spring precipitation (+) or drought (–). Furthermore, multiple matrix regression models revealed that ramet pairs with shared fire history were more synchronous in seed production than ones that burned in different years. Long-term trends suggest that increasingly drier spring weather, in interaction with fire frequency, may drive a decline of seed production. Such declines could affect the community of acorn-reliant vertebrates in the Florida scrub, including endangered Florida scrub-jays (<i>Aphelocoma coerulescens</i>). These results illustrate that fire can function as a proximate driver of seed production in mast-seeding species, highlighting the increasingly recognized importance of interactions among reproductive strategies and disturbance regimes in structuring plant populations and communities.</p>
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.