Bogdziewicz, MichałPesendorfer, MarioCrone, Elizabeth E.Pérez Izquierdo, CarlosBonal Andrés, Raúl2026-02-252026-02-252020-11-11Bogdziewicz, M., Pesendorfer, M., Crone, E. E., Pérez-Izquierdo, C., & Bonal, R. (2020). Flowering synchrony drives reproductive success in a wind-pollinated tree. En Ecology Letters (Vol. 23, Número 12, pp. 1820-1826). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1111/ELE.136091461-023X10.1111/ele.13609https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133137The study was supported by the Polish National Science Centre grants Sonatina no. 2017/24/C/NZ8/00151 (MB), and the MICNN project AGL2014-54739-R (RB).Synchronised and quasi-periodic production of seeds by plant populations, known as masting, is implicated in many ecological processes, but how it arises remains poorly understood. Flowering and pollination dynamics are hypothesised to provide the mechanistic link for the observed relationship between weather and population-level seed production. We report the first experimental test of the phenological synchrony hypotheses as a driver of pollen limitation in mast seeding oaks (Quercus ilex). Higher flowering synchrony yielded greater pollination efficiency, which resulted in 2-fold greater seed set in highly synchronised oaks compared to asynchronous individuals. Pollen addition removed the negative effect of asynchronous flowering on seed set. Because phenological synchrony operates through environmental variation, this result suggests that oak masting is synchronised by exogenous rather than endogenous factors. It also points to a mechanism by which changes in flowering phenology can affect plant reproduction of mast-seeding plants, with subsequent implications for community dynamics.engjournal article1461-0248https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13609Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.13609restricted access581.3581.46582.091581.5Flowering phenologyFlowering synchronyMast seedingPollen additionWind pollinationBotánica (Biología)Ecología (Biología)2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica)2417.13 Ecología Vegetal2417.15 Desarrollo Vegetal