Pattern, Adaptation, and Constraint in Fruiting Synchrony within Vertebrate-Dispersed Woody Plants

Patterns of within-plant fruit ripening synchrony were examined for 12 woody species in southeastern Michigan, USA. Flowering was more synchronous than fruiting in all individuals tested, suggesting that flowering may constrain fruiting synchrony. However, flowering and fruiting synchrony were not positively correlated among individuals of Amelanchier arborea or Prunus virginiana and only weakly correlated among nine species, indicating that selection may act independently on the two phenological events (...)