Multi-trophic consequences of mass flowering in two bamboos (Poales: Poaceae)

Mass flowering (masting) has been hypothesized to be an adaptive strategy to satiate florivores/granivores. However, few studies have corroborated this by examining seed predation in multiple flowering patches of varying sizes across a wide geographical range over multiple years. Moreover, the trophic consequences of masting for the parasitoids of florivores/granivores and their feedback effects are poorly understood. Here, we used the nationwide masting of two bamboo species, Sasamorpha borealis var. borealis and Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis, in Japan and compared florivory and seed sets in multiple flowering patches during the masting year and the following sporadic flowering years. We found lower florivory damage in both bamboo species and higher seed set for Sasamorpha borealis var. borealis in patches with massive and spatiotemporally isolated flowering. Additionally, the relative level of parasitism of florivores increased considerably in the sporadic flowering year, parti...