Is there tree senescence? The fecundity evidence

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2106130118
• Publication Date: 2021-08-16T20:30:35Z
• Authors: Tong Qiu; Marie-Claire Aravena; Robert Andrus; Davide Ascoli; Yves Bergeron; Roberta Berretti; Michal Bogdziewicz; Thomas Boivin; Raul Bonal; Thomas Caignard; Rafael Calama; J. Julio Camarero; Connie J. Clark; Benoit Courbaud; Sylvain Delzon; Sergio Donoso Cal...; William Farfan-Rios; Catherine A. Gehring; Gregory S. Gilbert; Cathryn H. Greenberg; Qinfeng Guo; Janneke Hille Ris...; Kazuhiko Hoshizaki; Ines Ibanez; Valentin Journé; Christopher L. Ki...; Richard K. Kobe; Walter D. Koenig; Georges Kunstler; Jalene M. LaMontagne; Mateusz Ledwon; James A. Lutz; Renzo Motta; Jonathan A. Myers; Thomas A. Nagel; Chase L. Nuñez; Ian S. Pearse; Łukasz Piechnik; John R. Poulsen; Renata Poulton-Ka...; Miranda D. Redmond; Chantal D. Reid; Kyle C. Rodman; C. Lane Scher; Harald Schmidt Va...; Barbara Seget; Shubhi Sharma; Miles Silman; Jennifer J. Swenson; Margaret Swift; Maria Uriarte; Giorgio Vacchiano; Thomas T. Veblen; Amy V. Whipple; Thomas G. Whitham; Andreas P. Wion; S. Joseph Wright; Kai Zhu; Jess K. Zimmerman; Magdalena Żywiec; James S. Clark
• Keywords: Crown architecture; 0106 biological sciences; 330; 577; Forests; Models, Biological; 01 natural sciences; tree senescence; Trees; Tree life history; Models; Tree senescence; Regeneration; Allometric scaling; tree fecundity; crown architecture; 15. Life on land; Biological; Fertility; Tree fecundity; Allometric scaling; Crown architecture; Tree fecundity; Tree life history; Tree senescence; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; allometric scaling; tree life history

SignificancePhysiological decline in large, old trees could involve diminished reproductive effort, but evidence is lacking. A global analysis finds that fecundity decline in large trees is pervasive, consistent with physiological decline, thus providing new evidence for tree senescence. For the 20% of species not showing fecundity declines, this lack of evidence was linked not to specific species groups, but rather to lack of large trees in the data. Large trees remain important for their structural attributes, but results highlight the critical role of intermediate trees for their contribution to reproduction.