Seed masting is stronger in tall plants

Two economies of scale, predator satiation and pollination efficiency, have been proposed to explain the evolutionary mechanisms of seed masting adopted by some long-lived plants. Plant height is strongly selected by pollination vectors and therefore may also provide economies of scale; however, it remains unknown whether there is a close relationship between plant height and seed masting intensity. Here, we analyzed seed masting intensity of 158 perennial plant species to test if plant height can select for seed masting. We show that seed masting intensities are higher in tall plants irrespective of phylogeny, life form, pollination vector, and type of spermatophytes. We also show that anemophily rather than entomophily selects for taller plant species and higher seed masting intensities. The linear correlations and evolutionary links between plant height and seed masting intensity provide further evidence that seed masting could have evolved as an adaptation to plant height selected by pollination vectors, which paves a novel avenue for better understanding masting evolution across plant species.