Year-to-year variation in cone production in Wollemia nobilis (Wollemi Pine)

  • Seed production varies from year-to-year in most species. Factors influencing this variation can include pollination and dispersal mechanisms, seed predation and resource availability. Here we examine a long-term (12– year) photographic record of seed cone production for the Australian endemic conifer Wollemia nobilis (Araucariaceae). Coefficient of variation (a commonly used measure of variation in seed production) was low for the two trees analysed, compared with published values for other polycarpic plants. Nevertheless, cone production decreased with increasing spring minimum temperatures (during pollination) and increased with summer total rainfall (during cone initiation). Hence, Wollemia nobilis cone production was correlated with weather, in line with the resource-matching hypothesis. Impacts of variation in cone production on the Wollemia nobilis population are likely to be buffered by the shade-tolerant, slow-growing juvenile life stage of Wollemia nobilis.

Download full text files

Export metadata

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Heidi C. Zimmer, Patricia F. Meagher, Tony D. Auld, Jaime Plaza, Catherine A. Offord
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-514408
DOI:https://doi.org/doi 10.7751/cunninghamia.2015.15.004
ISSN:0727- 9620
ISSN:2200 - 405X
Parent Title (English):Cunninghamia : a journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2015
Date of first Publication:2015/03/23
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2019/10/23
Tag:Araucariaceae; Wollemi National Park; climate; masting; weather
Volume:15
Page Number:7
First Page:79
Last Page:85
HeBIS-PPN:455376468
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 58 Pflanzen (Botanik) / 580 Pflanzen (Botanik)
Sammlungen:Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte
Zeitschriften / Jahresberichte:Cunninghamia : A Journal of Plant Ecology for Eastern Australia / Cunninghamia : A Journal of Plant Ecology for Eastern Australia, Volume 15 (2015)
:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-514293
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht