The effects of local climate on the correlation between weather and seed production differ in two species with contrasting masting habit

Many plant species present inter-annual cycles of seed production (mast seeding), with synchronized high seed production across populations in some years. Weather is believed to be centrally involved in triggering masting. The links between meteorological conditions and seeding are well-recognized for some species, but in others consistent correlates have not been found. We used a spatially extensive data set of fruit production to test the hypothesis that the influence of weather on seed production is conditioned by local climate and that this influence varies between species with different life history traits. We used two model species. European beech (Fagus sylvatica) that is a flowering masting species, i.e. seed production is determined by variable flower production, and sessile oak (Quercus petrea) that is a fruit-maturation masting species, i.e. seed production is determined by variable ripening of more constant flower production. We predicted that climate should strongly modulate the relationship between meteorological cue and fruit production in Q. petrea, while the relationship should be uniform in F. sylvatica. The influence of meteorological cue on reproduction in fruiting masting species should be strongly conditioned by local climate because the strength of environmental constraint that modulates the success of flower-to-fruit transition is likely to vary with local climatic conditions. In accordance, the meteorological cuing was consistent in F. sylvatica. In contrast, in Q. petraea the relationship between spring temperature and seed production varied among sites and was stronger in populations at colder sites. The clear difference in meteorological conditioning of seed production between the two studied species suggests the responses of masting plants to weather can be potentially systematized according to their masting habit: i.e. fruiting or flowering.