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Geographical variation in climatic cues for mast seeding of Fagus crenata

  • Special Feature: Original Article
  • Spatial Population Synchrony
  • Published:
Population Ecology

Abstract

Geographical variation in climatic cues for masting of Fagus crenata Blume, which is the most dominant tree species in Japanese temperate forests, was investigated in the northern part of Japan, i.e., the Tohoku district of Honshu Island and the Oshima Peninsula of Hokkaido Island. The data obtained after an 18-year assessment (1989–2006) of 163 stands, covering an area of ca. 200 × 500 km2 area, were used in this study. In all stands, mast seeding occurred three times (1995, 2000 and 2005) during the study period and the coefficient of annual variation (CV) in seedfall density was 0.94. Based on cluster analysis, the stands were classified into each of the seven groups, in which the seedfall density was temporally synchronized among the stands and showed higher values of CV (1.04–1.79). These groups were distributed spatially exclusively at the scale of 80–200 km. By selecting the tree model based on AIC values, lower temperature in spring, higher temperature in summer and seedfall density in a year were proved to have a decisive influence on the seedfall density in the subsequent year. The effects of the first two climatic cues overwhelm that of the seedfall density. Lower temperature in spring served as a cue mostly for the population in the Oshima Peninsula, while higher temperature in summer served as a cue for the populations in the Tohoku district. If this suggests a genetic variation in relation to cues, climatic changes (e.g., global warming) will have different impacts on seed production of different F. crenata populations. However, it remains to be tested in future studies whether multiple climatic cues simply reflect regionally variable climatic conditions or not.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the foresters of the Tohoku Regional Forest Office for assessing seed production and providing the data. We are also very grateful to Dr. A. Satake for her useful suggestions throughout the study and to Dr. T. Matsui for his assistance in constructing the tree model. The AMeDAS data were obtained from the numeric data-base at the Computer Center for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research, MAFF, Japan. The data on seed production of Fagus crenata in the Tohoku district were obtained from the website of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (http://www.ffpri.affrc.go.jp/labs/tanedas/, in Japanese). This study was partly funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (“The study project on the Japanese black bears’ mass intrusion into human settlements”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Takashi Masaki, Teruki Oka & Wajiro Suzuki

  2. Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kyoto, Japan

    Katsuhiro Osumi

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  1. Takashi Masaki
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  2. Teruki Oka
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  3. Katsuhiro Osumi
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  4. Wajiro Suzuki
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Correspondence to Takashi Masaki.

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This manuscript was submitted for the special feature based on the symposium in Jozankei, Hokkaido, held on 21 October 2007.

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Masaki, T., Oka, T., Osumi, K. et al. Geographical variation in climatic cues for mast seeding of Fagus crenata . Popul Ecol 50, 357–366 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-008-0104-6

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