Extended flowering intervals of bamboos evolved by discrete multiplication. (11th May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Veller, Carl; Nowak, Martin A.; Davis, Charles C.; Blasius, Bernd
• Is Part Of: Ecology letters. Volume 18:Number 7(2015:Jul.)
• Page Start: 653
• Page End: 659
• Publication Date: 2015-05-11
• Subjects: Ecology -- Periodicals; 577
• DOI: 10.1111/ele.12442
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-023X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="ele12442-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Numerous bamboo species collectively flower and seed at dramatically extended, regular intervals – some as long as 120 years. These collective seed releases, termed 'masts', are thought to be a strategy to overwhelm seed predators or to maximise pollination rates. But why are the intervals so long, and how did they evolve? We propose a simple mathematical model that supports their evolution as a two‐step process: First, an initial phase in which a mostly annually flowering population synchronises onto a small multi‐year interval. Second, a phase of successive small multiplications of the initial synchronisation interval, resulting in the extraordinary intervals seen today. A prediction of the hypothesis is that mast intervals observed today should factorise into small prime numbers. Using a historical data set of bamboo flowering observations, we find strong evidence in favour of this prediction. Our hypothesis provides the first theoretical explanation for the mechanism underlying this remarkable phenomenon.</p> </abstract>