BACKGROUND AND AIMS In plants, high costs of reproduction during some years can induce trade-offs in resource allocation with other functions such as growth, survival and resistance against herbivores or extreme abiotic conditions, but also with subsequent reproduction. Such trade-offs might also occur following resource shortage at particular moments of the reproductive cycle. Because plants are modular organisms, resource allocation strategies to reproduction can also vary among hierarchical levels. Using a defoliation experiment, our aim was to test how allocation to reproduction was impacted by resource limitation. METHODS We applied three levels of defoliation (control, moderate and intense) to branches of eight Quercus ilex trees shortly after fruit initiation and measured the effects of resource limitation induced by leaf removal on fruit development (survival, growth, and germination potential), and on the production of vegetative and reproductive organs the year following defoliation. KEY RESULTS We found that defoliation had little impact on fruit development. Fruit survival was not affected by the intense defoliation treatment, but reduced by moderate defoliation, and this result could not be explained by an upregulation of photosynthesis. Mature fruit mass was not affected by defoliation, nor was seed germination success. However, in the following spring, defoliated branches produced less shoots and compensated leaf loss by overproducing leaves at the expense of flowers. Therefore, resource shortage decreased resource allocation to reproduction the following season but did not affect sex ratio. CONCLUSIONS Our results support the idea of a regulation of resource allocation to reproduction beyond the shoot scale. Defoliation had larger legacy effects than immediate effects.

中文翻译：

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通过实验落叶进行的资源操纵对栎属冬青的生殖和营养器官的分配具有遗留影响


背景和目的在植物中，某些年份的高繁殖成本可能会导致资源分配与其他功能（例如生长、生存和对食草动物或极端非生物条件的抵抗力）以及随后的繁殖之间的权衡。这种权衡也可能发生在生殖周期特定时刻的资源短缺之后。由于植物是模块化生物体，繁殖的资源分配策略也可能因层级而异。通过落叶实验，我们的目的是测试资源限制如何影响繁殖分配。方法 我们在果实萌发后不久对八棵栎树的枝条进行了三种程度的落叶（对照、中度和强烈），并测量了落叶引起的资源限制对果实发育（存活、生长和发芽潜力）的影响，以及落叶后第二年营养和生殖器官的产生。主要结果 我们发现落叶对果实发育影响很小。果实存活率并未受到强烈落叶处理的影响，但会因适度落叶而降低，并且这一结果不能用光合作用的上调来解释。成熟的果实质量不受落叶的影响，种子发芽的成功率也不受影响。然而，在接下来的春天，落叶的枝条产生的芽减少，并通过过度生产叶子以牺牲花朵为代价来补偿叶子损失。因此，资源短缺减少了下个季节用于繁殖的资源分配，但不影响性别比。结论 我们的结果支持对超出芽规模的繁殖资源分配进行调节的想法。 落叶的遗留影响大于直接影响。