Schauber et al. (2002): Synchronous and asynchronous masting by 18 New Zealand plant species.

Schauber, E.M., Kelly, D., Turchin, P., Simon, C., Lee, W.G., Allen, R.B., Payton, I.J., Wilson, P.R., Cowan, P.E. & Brockie, R.E. 2002. Synchronous and asynchronous masting by 18 New Zealand plant species: the role of temperature cues and implications for climate change. Ecology 83: 1214-1225.

This paper tests for synchrony in seed crops in 34 datasets from 18 NZ plant species from Fiordland to Wellington, in Chionochloa, Nothofagus, Phormium, Elaeocarpus, and Dacrydium. All species except rimu were highly correlated across years within and between genera. Heavy seeding years came one year after warm summers, and were also related to high values of the Southern Oscillation Index (La Nina). The synchrony is apparently not driven by selective benefits (e.g. shared seed predators) but instead by incidental sharing of the same climate cue. Global warming could alter the pattern of high seed crops, with widespread community effects.