Ecology. 2014 Apr;95(4):801-7. doi: 10.1890/13-1720.1.
Masting is a reproductive strategy defined as the intermittent and synchronized production of large seed crops by a plant population. The pollination efficiency hypothesis proposes that masting increases pollination success in plants. Despite its general appeal, no previous studies have used long-term data together with population- and individual-level analyses to assess pollination efficiency between mast and non-mast events. Here we rigorously tested the pollination efficiency hypothesis in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), a long-lived monoecious, wind-pollinated species, using a data set on 217 trees monitored annually for 20 years. Relative investment in male and female function by individual trees did not vary between mast and non-mast years. At both the population and individual level, the rate of production of mature female cones relative to male strobili production was higher in mast than non-mast years, consistent with the predicted benefit of reproductive synchrony on reproductive success. In addition, at the individual level we found a higher conversion of unfertilized female conelets into mature female cones during a mast year compared to a non-mast year. Collectively, parallel results at the population and individual tree level provide robust evidence for the ecological, and potentially also evolutionary, benefits of masting through increased pollination efficiency.
结实（masting）是一种繁殖策略，定义为植物种群间歇性和同步产生大量种子。授粉效率假说提出，结实会增加植物的授粉成功率。尽管它具有普遍的吸引力，但以前没有研究使用长期数据以及群体和个体水平的分析来评估结实和非结实事件之间的授粉效率。在这里，我们使用 217 棵树的数据集，这些树在 20 年内每年进行监测，对长寿命雌雄同体、风媒授粉的黄松（Pinus ponderosa）进行了严格的授粉效率假说检验。个体树木在雄性和雌性功能上的相对投资在结实年和非结实年之间没有差异。在群体和个体水平上，与雄性球果相比，成熟雌性球果的产量在结实年高于非结实年，这与生殖同步对生殖成功的预期收益一致。此外，在个体水平上，我们发现结实年中未受精的雌球果转化为成熟雌球果的比例高于非结实年。总体而言，在群体和个体树上的平行结果为结实通过提高授粉效率带来的生态（潜在的还有进化）效益提供了有力证据。
