Summary
In sub-alpine forests of Northeast America and Japan pure stands of trees in the genusAbies exhibit wave regeneration. Opportunities for recruitment in such forests are confined to a window in time and space that coincides with the death of an even-aged cohort of adult trees. I suggest that the coincidence of this recruitment window with the death of adults at a predictable age should select for convergence between age at first reproduction and age at death. Ultimately this would lead to the evolution of semelparity. The available evidence supports this hypothesis for wave-regeneratedAbies populations in Japan. A field test of the hypothesis is also suggested.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Charnov, E.L. (1993)Life History Invariants. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Foster, R.B. (1977)Tachigalia versicolor is a suicidal neotropical tree.Nature 268 624–6.
Grime, J.P. (1979)Plant Strategies and Vegetation Processes. Wiley, Chichester.
Kohyama, T. (1982) Studies on theAbies population of Mt Shimagare. II. Reproductive and life history traits.Bot. Mag. Tokyo 95 167–81.
Kohyama, T. (1984) Regeneration and coexistence of twoAbies species dominating subalpine forests in central Japan.Oecologia,62 156–61.
Kohyama, T. and Fujita, N. (1981) Studies on theAbies population of Mt Shimagare. I. Survivorship curve.Bot. Mag. Tokyo 94 55–68.
Loehle, C. (1988) Tree life histories: the role of defences.Can. J. Forest. Res. 18 209–22.
Marchand, P.J. (1984) Dedrochronology of a fir wave.Can. J. Forest. Res. 14 51–6.
Marks, P.L. (1974) The role of pin cherry in the maintenance of stability in northern hardwood ecosystems.Ecol. Monog. 44 73–88.
Sato, T. (1994) Stand structure and dynamics of wave-typeAbies sachalinensis coastal forest.Ecol. Res. 9 77–84.
Sato, K. and Iwasa, Y. (1993) Modelling of wave regeneration in sub-alpineAbies forests - population dynamics with spatial structure.Ecology 74 1538–50.
Schaffer, W.M. and Gadgil, M.D. (1975) Selection for optimal life histories in plants. InEcology and evolution of communities (M.L. Cody and J. Diamond, eds), pp. 142–56. Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA.
Schaffer, W.M. and Schaffer, M.D. (1979) The adaptive significance of variations in reproductive habit in the Agavaceae. II. Pollinator foraging behaviour and selection for increased reproductive expenditure.Ecology 60 1051–69.
Silvertown, J. (1983) Why are biennials sometimes not so few?Am. Nat. 121 448–53.
Silvertown, J. (1989) A binary classification of plant life histories and some possibilities for its evolutionary application.Evol. Trends Plants 3 87–90.
Sprugel, D.G. (1976) Dynamic structure of wave-generatedAbies balsamea forests in the Northeastern United States.J. Ecol. 64 889–911.
Sutherland, W.J., Grafen, A. and Harvey, P.H. (1986) Life history correlations and demography.Nature 320 88.
Young, T.P. (1990) Evolution of semelparity in Mount Kenya lobelias.Evol. Ecol. 4 157–71.
Young, T.P. and Augspurger, C.K. (1991) Ecology and evolution of long-lived semelparous plants.Trends Ecol. Evol. 6 285–9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Silvertown, J. Are sub-alpine firs evolving towards semelparity?. Evol Ecol 10, 77–80 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01239348
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01239348