Effects of mistletoe () on California oaks.

Mistletoes are a widespread group of plants often considered to be hemiparasitic, having detrimental effects on growth and survival of their hosts. We studied the effects of the Pacific mistletoe, , a member of a largely autotrophic genus, on three species of deciduous California oaks. We found no effects of mistletoe presence on radial growth or survivorship and detected a significant positive relationship between mistletoe and acorn production.

Testing the Terminal Investment Hypothesis in California Oaks.

The terminal investment hypothesis-which proposes that reproductive investment should increase with age-related declines in reproductive value-has garnered support in a range of animal species but has not been previously examined in long-lived plants, such as trees. We tested this hypothesis by comparing relative acorn production and radial growth among 1,000+ mature individuals of eight species of California oaks (genus Quercus) followed for up to 37 years, during which time 70 trees died apparently natural deaths. We found no significant differences in the radial growth, acorn production, or index of reproductive effort, taking into consideration both growth and reproduction among dying trees relative to either conspecific trees at the same site that did not die or growth and reproduction from earlier years for the focal trees that did eventually die.

What drives masting? The phenological synchrony hypothesis.

Annually variable and synchronous seed production, or masting behavior, is a widespread phenomenon with dramatic effects on wildlife populations and their associated communities. Proximally, masting is often correlated with environmental factors and most likely involves differential pollination success and resource allocation, but little is known about how these factors interact or how they influence seed production. We studied masting in the valley oak (Quercus lobata Née), a California endemic tree, and report evidence that phenological synchrony in flowering driven by microclimatic variability determines the size of the acorn crop through its effects on pollen availability and fertilization success.

No trade-off between seed size and number in the valley oak Quercus lobata.

We examined the relationship between acorn mass and number in valley oaks (Quercus lobata) over 4 years in central coastal California. Despite considerable variation in acorn size among both trees and years, trees produced acorns of the same size relative to other trees in different years. Across years, the relationship between acorn mass and acorn crop size was generally positive, even after controlling for environmental conditions and differences in individual tree size and quality.

Negative correlation does not imply a tradeoff between growth and reproduction in California oaks.

A tradeoff between growth and reproduction, often inferred from an inverse correlation between these two variables, is a fundamental paradigm of life-history evolution. Oak species provide a unique test of this relationship because different species mature acorns either in the year of pollination or in the year after pollination. This difference allows for an interspecific comparison testing whether the apparent tradeoff is causal or the result of confounding factors influencing growth and reproduction independently.