Cannon Charles H, Curran Lisa M, Marshall Andrew J, Leighton Mark
Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Box 43131, Lubbock, TX 79409-3131, USA.
Ecol Lett. 2007 Oct;10(10):956-69. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01089.x.
For 68 months, we observed the reproductive behaviour of 7288 woody plants (172 figs, 1457 climbers and 5659 trees) spanning major soil and elevational gradients. Two 2-3 month community-wide supra-annual fruiting events were synchronized across five forest types, coinciding with ENSO events. At least 27 genera in 24 families restricted their reproduction to these events, which involved a substantial proportion of tree diversity (> 80% of phylogenetic diversity). During these events, mean reproductive levels (8.5%) represented an almost four-fold increase compared with other months. These patterns indicate a strong behavioural advantage to this unusual reproductive behaviour. Montane forest experienced a single, separate fruiting peak while the peat swamp forest did not participate. Excluding these events, no temporal reproductive pattern was detectable, at either the landscape or forest type. These phenological patterns have major implications for the conservation of frugivore communities, with montane and swamp forests acting as 'keystone' forests.
在68个月的时间里，我们观察了7288种木本植物（172种榕树、1457种攀缘植物和5659种树）的繁殖行为，这些植物跨越了主要的土壤和海拔梯度。两次为期2 - 3个月的全群落超年度结果事件在五种森林类型中同步发生，与厄尔尼诺-南方涛动（ENSO）事件相吻合。24个科中至少27个属将它们的繁殖限制在这些事件中，这些事件涉及相当比例的树木多样性（>80%的系统发育多样性）。在这些事件期间，平均繁殖水平（8.5%）与其他月份相比几乎增加了四倍。这些模式表明这种不寻常的繁殖行为具有强大的行为优势。山地森林经历了一个单独的结果高峰，而泥炭沼泽森林没有参与。排除这些事件后，在景观或森林类型层面均未检测到时间上的繁殖模式。这些物候模式对食果动物群落的保护具有重大影响，山地森林和沼泽森林起着“关键”森林的作用。
