Resource allocation trade-offs in a mast-seeding conifer: Piñon pine prioritizes reproduction over defense

作者：Miranda D. Redmond, Thomas Seth Davis, Scott Ferrenberg, Andreas P. Wion · 发表于：AoB Plants · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1093/aobpla/plz070 · 被引用次数：43 · 研究领域：Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Plant and animal studies

Abstract The cost of plant reproduction or defense at the expense of other fitness traits is a central component of life history theory. Yet the three central resource allocation pathways of growth, reproduction, and defense have rarely been assessed simultaneously nor across individual to landscape scales. This information is critical towards identifying the physiological, environmental, and genetic mechanisms underpinning resource allocation. This study assessed trade-offs in resource allocation between tree growth, defense, and reproduction across scales among piñon pine (Pinusedulis), a widespread mast-seeding conifer of the southwestern USA. Time series (2004-2016) of tree growth (radial and primary shoot growth), defense (resin duct production; a key constitutive defense for this species), and cone production among individual trees from populations across a broad environmental gradient were used to investigate these trade-offs in resource allocation across three scales: individual, population, and landscape. We found evidence for a defense-reproduction trade-off among individuals whereby total resin duct area in annual xylem rings was lower during years of above average cone production. Despite variability in cone and resin duct production across trees within a population and across populations, there was no association between these fitness traits at either of those scales. There was no evidence of trade-offs between cone production and growth at any scales measured, w...