4 ms·

And why don't other plants in the same forest also synchronize their flowering to the same time, so that all trees in one forest would flower say every 60 years

And why don't other plants in the same forest also synchronize their flowering to the same time, so that all trees in one forest would flower say every 60 years? A bit like bird colonies that have many different species, enjoying the protection. Maybe they would not be synchronized to the same part of the year, losing most synchronization benefits.

Someone 11y ago
That would probably not be the best strategy for those plants that need animals to help them reproduce. Animals and plants could co-evolve, yes, but getting there likely is slower. Also, Wikipedia (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_blossom#Mechanism http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_blossom#Mechanism) mentions a competing theory: "the fire cycle hypothesis, argues that periodic flowering followed by death of the adult plants has evolved as a mechanism to create disturbance in the habitat, thus providing the seedlings with a gap in which to grow. This argues that the dead culms create a large fuel load, and also a large target for lightning strikes, increasing the likelihood of wildfire. Because bamboos can be aggressive as early successional plants, the seedlings would be able to outstrip other plants and take over the space left by their parents." If that is a factor in synchronized blooming it only can be beneficial for those plants that are pioneer species (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_species http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_species)
- Gravityloss 11y ago
  There is a large number of plants don't use animals for pollinating. For example Conifers.
has2k1 11y ago
There are so many factors at play in a diverse ecosystem. For one, the plants compete on many levels that it becomes too "chaotic" for an immediately discernible overall synchrony to arise. Even then there will likely be a number of symbiotic relationships between different species that depend on the presence of varying flowering/life cycles. The bamboos come out all "well behaving" and synchronized perhaps only because the natural evolutionary process is trying out everything everywhere and something somewhere will be judged to be synchronized with distinction.

Someone 11y ago

That would probably not be the best strategy for those plants that need animals to help them reproduce. Animals and plants could co-evolve, yes, but getting there likely is slower. Also, Wikipedia (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_blossom#Mechanism http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_blossom#Mechanism) mentions a competing theory: "the fire cycle hypothesis, argues that periodic flowering followed by death of the adult plants has evolved as a mechanism to create disturbance in the habitat, thus providing the seedlings with a gap in which to grow. This argues that the dead culms create a large fuel load, and also a large target for lightning strikes, increasing the likelihood of wildfire. Because bamboos can be aggressive as early successional plants, the seedlings would be able to outstrip other plants and take over the space left by their parents." If that is a factor in synchronized blooming it only can be beneficial for those plants that are pioneer species (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_species http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_species)

Gravityloss 11y ago
There is a large number of plants don't use animals for pollinating. For example Conifers.

has2k1 11y ago

There are so many factors at play in a diverse ecosystem. For one, the plants compete on many levels that it becomes too "chaotic" for an immediately discernible overall synchrony to arise. Even then there will likely be a number of symbiotic relationships between different species that depend on the presence of varying flowering/life cycles. The bamboos come out all "well behaving" and synchronized perhaps only because the natural evolutionary process is trying out everything everywhere and something somewhere will be judged to be synchronized with distinction.