Abstract
Seed mass is a basic trait in studies of functional ecology. Examining how seed mass is affected by biotic and abiotic factors could improve our understanding of ecological strategies in plants. Here we examined the relationships of seed mass with 13 climate variables and seven life history traits, and partitioned the relative effects of life history traits vs. climate, based on seed mass data for 1265 woody angiosperm species in China. Our results showed that seed mass decreased with latitude, and most climate variables were positively correlated with seed mass. Geographic seed mass pattern was affected by both energy and water availability in the growing season, but the effect of energy availability was more important. Seed mass was also significantly related to other traits such as growth form, fruit type, dispersal mode, breeding system, leaf habit, fruit development time, and minimum juvenile period, with growth form and dispersal mode being the most closely related traits. Our results showed that climate explained much less variation in seed mass than life history traits, and that phylogeny played an important role in shaping the large-scale patterns of seed mass.
Highlights
Seed size is one of the key traits related to many aspects of plant ecology, and may influence species distribution, population dynamics, and community structure[1]
We addressed the following questions: 1) How does seed mass change with latitudinal and climate gradients in China, and is the pattern in China similar to those reported in previous global analyses? 2) Amongst the factors of energy availability, winter temperature, water availability, and gradient of net primary productivity (NPP), what are the major climatic correlates of seed mass? 3) Is there a close association between seed mass and life history traits, especially the reproductive traits that are rarely being considered in previous large-scale studies? 4) What are the relative importance of climate vs. life history traits in explaining the seed mass pattern across China?
Seed mass decreased with latitude as inferred by the correlations of seed mass with the midpoint latitude and the maximum latitude of each species range, in both the phylogenetic and non-phylogenetic models (Table 2, Fig. 1a,b)
Summary
Seed size is one of the key traits related to many aspects of plant ecology, and may influence species distribution, population dynamics, and community structure[1]. Many studies have examined the drivers of latitudinal seed mass patterns; climate, net primary productivity (NPP), vegetation type, growth form, dispersal mode, and evolution history have been suggested as important factors[8,9,10,11,12,13]. 3) Is there a close association between seed mass and life history traits, especially the reproductive traits (e.g. fruit type, fruit development days, minimum juvenile period and breeding system) that are rarely being considered in previous large-scale studies? We addressed the following questions: 1) How does seed mass change with latitudinal and climate gradients in China, and is the pattern in China similar to those reported in previous global analyses? 2) Amongst the factors of energy availability (e.g. temperature in the growing season), winter temperature, water availability, and gradient of NPP, what are the major climatic correlates of seed mass? 3) Is there a close association between seed mass and life history traits, especially the reproductive traits (e.g. fruit type, fruit development days, minimum juvenile period and breeding system) that are rarely being considered in previous large-scale studies? 4) What are the relative importance of climate vs. life history traits in explaining the seed mass pattern across China?
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