Anticipatory reproduction and population growth in seed predators
Anticipatory reproduction and population growth in seed predators
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1135520
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发表时间：
2006-12-22
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Dhondt, Andre A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Boutin, Stan;Wauters, Lucas A.;Dhondt, Andre A.
大量结实是指植物种群间歇性、同步性地产生大量种子的现象，它是资源脉冲的一个著名例子，会在生态群落的连续营养级中产生滞后反应。之所以会产生这些滞后，是因为人们认为种子捕食者只有在资源脉冲可供食用之后才能增加繁殖和种群数量。捕食者由此产生的饱腹感是对大量结实进化的一种被广泛引用的解释。我们的研究表明，美洲和欧亚的树松鼠都会预测资源脉冲，并在大量结实事件发生之前增加繁殖产量，从而使种群数量与资源脉冲同步增加，并消除了在资源脉冲系统中被认为普遍存在的种群滞后现象。
Mast seeding, the intermittent, synchronous production of large seed crops by a population of plants, is a well-known example of resource pulses that create lagged responses in successive trophic levels of ecological communities. These lags arise because seed predators are thought capable of increasing reproduction and population size only after the resource pulse is available for consumption. The resulting satiation of predators is a widely cited explanation for the evolution of masting. Our study shows that both American and Eurasian tree squirrels anticipate resource pulses and increase reproductive output before a masting event, thereby increasing population size in synchrony with the resource pulse and eliminating the population lag thought to be universal in resource pulse systems.