Summer solstice orchestrates the subcontinental-scale synchrony of mast seeding

Abstract

High interannual variation in seed production in perennial plants can be synchronized at subcontinental scales with wide consequences for ecosystem functioning, but how such synchrony is generated is unclear1–3. We investigated the factors contributing to masting synchrony in European beech (Fagus sylvatica), which extends to a geographic range of 2,000 km. Maximizing masting synchrony via spatial weather coordination, known as the Moran effect, requires a simultaneous response to weather conditions across distant populations. A celestial cue that occurs simultaneously across the entire hemisphere is the longest day (the summer solstice). We show that European beech abruptly opens its temperature-sensing window on the solstice, and hence widely separated populations all start responding to weather signals in the same week. This celestial ‘starting gun’ generates ecological events with high spatial synchrony across the continent. This study reports that in European beech masting, the summer solstice serves as a celestial trigger that enables cohesive timekeeping across distant beech populations, allowing seed production to be synchronized at a subcontinental scale.