The signature of reproduction on wood anatomy in European beech reveals potential for masting reconstruction

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Abstract

Reconstructing masting, the synchronized large interannual variations in seed production by plant populations, is key to assessing tree species response to past climate variability and provides a baseline for predicting forest ecosystem fecundity under ongoing global warming. Since masting is tightly linked to growth through shifts in resource allocation, previous reconstruction attempts relied on tree‐ring width as a proxy of reproductive investment. However, this approach shows limitations, as narrow rings do not exclusively originate after masting events but may also result from periods of drought or high temperature (temperature anomalies) and other biotic or abiotic factors reducing radial growth. To disentangle the effect of masting events and temperature anomalies on wood anatomy, we investigated a wide range of wood anatomical traits along with tree‐ring width, using time series (1970–2021) from beech increment cores sampled in northeastern Germany. We used multivariate regression to capture traits affected by masting events and developed a random forest model to evaluate the predictive power of these traits compared with tree ring width alone. Results suggested that mesic site conditions prevented temperature anomalies from emerging as a major confounding factor for tree‐ring width, which was significantly reduced only after masting events. However, quantitative wood anatomy showed concurrent anatomical signals associated with both extreme temperatures and masting. Following masting events, the anatomical response revealed a complex mechanism of carbon reallocation towards reproductive effort, while reflecting a compensatory strategy to maintain hydraulic function under resource‐constrained conditions. Estimates of hydraulic conductivity, anatomical wood density, and lignin content emerged as key predictors of masting events, matching tree‐ring width alone in capturing the reproductive signal. Synthesis . Understanding past tree reproduction is critical for predicting future forest dynamics in response to climate change, but existing methods struggle to distinguish reproductive signals from other growth‐limiting factors. Our findings establish a novel link between wood anatomy and masting events beyond ring width alone, demonstrating that quantitative wood anatomical traits offer a more accurate and ecologically relevant approach for reconstructing past masting dynamics.

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