Kelly and Sork (2002): Mast seeding in perennial plants: why, how, where?

Kelly, D.; Sork, V. L. 2002. Mast seeding in perennial plants: why, how, where? Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33:427–447.

This paper firstly reviews the possible causes of mast seeding. It tests the null hypothesis (variable weather causes variable seed-ing) and finds few convincing cases, then reviews the main selective hypotheses (predator satiation, enhanced pollination, animal dispersal). The second part analyses 570 masting datasets worldwide. Interestingly, 17 of the 26 datasets >24 yrs were from New Zealand. The analysis shows that masting is more pro-nounced in mid latitudes, in the southern hemisphere, in wind pollinated and abiotically dispersed plants, and in plants dis-persed by seed predators. Masting is predicted to be rare in the tropics, but more pronounced at unproductive sites.