%A Xifu Yang, Hongmao Zhang, Zhibin Zhang %T Mast seeding and its relationship to animal hoarding behaviour %0 Journal Article %D 2020 %J Biodiv Sci %R 10.17520/biods.2019312 %P 821-832 %V 28 %N 7 %U {https://www.biodiversity-science.net/CN/abstract/article_60648.shtml} %8 2020-07-20 %X

Mast seeding is a natural phenomenon that large seeding perennial plants perform periodic and synchronous reproduction. Mast seeding has been regarded as a strategy to adapt to environmental conditions and improve their reproductive ability, but its underlying mechanism and eco-evolutionary implications remain controversial. In animal dispersed reliant plants, mast seeding is considered as a scatter-hoarding protection strategy to improve dispersal efficiency and ultimately increase reproductive success. However, animal-mediated indirect seed-seed interactions of sympatric tree species may be an evolutionary driver of plant coexistence. Here, we briefly review the various hypotheses that have been suggested to explain the phenomenon of mast seeding, and we propose a conceptual framework integrating climate, resources and interaction between plants and animals to disentangle the mechanism of mast seeding. We also discuss the interaction between mast seeding and animal hoarding behavior and its evolutionary and ecological implications. In the future, long-term ecological monitoring and molecular biology methods should be used to reveal the ecological and evolutionary processes between mast seeding and animal hoarding behaviour.