Publication by Michał Bogdziewicz et al. engages with a recent paper by Meersch and Wolkovich, to discuss how the summer solstice serves as a fixed, range-wide cue that synchronizes temperature sensing for flowering in European beech. Unlike growth processes, where local adaptation to environmental conditions is beneficial, masting relies on synchrony among individuals to enhance pollination efficiency and predator satiation. The authors show show that this fixed-date cue, unaffected by local conditions, is key to achieving large-scale reproductive synchrony—but may also make masting vulnerable to climate warming.
Read the whole story here: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.