Research conducted over decades can reveal patterns not visible in short-term studies, and research networks allow for comparisons across large geographic areas and a range of ecosystems. When both approaches are combined, opportunities arise to address ecological questions with conservation and management implications. A recent LTER synthesis working group effort brought together long-term datasets on woody plant reproduction to investigate drivers and patterns of seed masting (synchronous seed production across years) in plants across different ecosystems. The HJA was represented by our long-term conifer cone production dataset which was started by Jerry Franklin as a USFS scientist in the late 1950s and carried forward by many USFS and LTER personnel over the subsequent six decades, most notably John Moreau, who carried the load for decades. The harmonized cross-site dataset was published in Ecology, providing public access to all the data, metadata, and code needed for additional and new analyses. A working group has also been conducting analyses of masting, including a study of community synchrony in seed production in relation to environmental conditions and species functional trait similarity. In a recent paper, published in Ecology Letters, the authors found that cross-species masting synchrony is greatest for species pairs with high trait similarity and at sites with drier climates. As disturbances like fire and hurricanes increase in intensity and frequency, efforts like these to understand long-term drivers and patterns of tree regeneration help to inform efforts to restore and maintain productive ecosystems.
Co-mast: Harmonized seed production data for woody plants across US long-term research sites. Nigro KM, Barton JH, Macias D, Chaudhary VB, Pearse IS, Bell DM, Chen A, Cleavitt NL, Crone EE, Greene DF, Holland EP, Johnstone JF, Koenig WD, Lyon NJ, Miller TEX, Schulze M, Snell RS, Zimmerman JK, Knops JMH, McNulty S, Parmenter RR, Winterstein MA, Zlotin RI, LaMontagne JM, Redmond MD. Ecology. 2024 Dec 12:e4463. doi: 10.1002/ecy.4463.
Community Synchrony in Seed Production is Associated With Trait Similarity and Climate Across North America. LaMontagne, J.M., Greene, D.F., Holland, E.P., Johnstone, J.F., Schulze, M., Zimmerman, J.K., Lyon, N.J., Chen, A., Miller, T.E.X., Nigro, K.M., Snell, R.S., Barton, J.H., Chaudhary, V.B., Cleavitt, N.L., Crone, E.E., Koenig, W.D., Macias, D., Pearse, I.S. and Redmond, M.D. (2024), Ecology Letters, 27: e14498. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14498