Most plants flower and fruit at times of year when probabilities of pollination and seedling establishment are high. Fig trees (Ficus spp.) are often considered as keystone resources for vertebrate frugivores, in part because of year‐round fig production. This unusual fruiting phenology results in the maintenance of fig wasp populations, but in seasonal environments this means fruiting occurs during periods when the chances of seedling establishment are low. Under these circumstances, selection is expected to favour any individuals that reduce or eliminate fruiting at these times. Here, we describe a large‐scale survey of the extent of dry season fruiting by three riparian Ficus species in Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe. Few trees of two monoecious species, F. sycomorus and F. abutilifolia, had figs, and most crops of F. sycomorus were far smaller than the trees were capable of producing. Large stands of the dioecious F. capreifolia were present, but fig densities were low and no mature female (seed containing) figs were recorded. Even though fig trees may have been the only species bearing fruit, the consequences of the low investment in reproduction by the three Ficus species were clear—there were too few figs for a landscape‐scale keystone role.

中文翻译：

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无花果无果：津巴布韦的河岸无花果树可能不是旱季的主要资源

大多数植物在一年中开花和结实的概率很高，授粉和结实的几率很高。无花果树（Ficus spp。）通常被认为是脊椎动物节食动物的主要资源，部分原因是全年无花果的生产。这种不寻常的结实物候现象导致无花果黄蜂种群得以维持，但在季节性环境中，这意味着结实发生在幼苗建立几率较低的时期。在这种情况下，选择将有利于此时减少或消除结果的任何个人。在这里，我们描述了津巴布韦Gonarezhou国家公园中三种河岸榕属植物在旱季结实程度的大规模调查。两种雌雄同体树种很少，F. sycomorus和F. abutilifolia有无花果，大多数F. sycomorus的农作物远小于树木的生产能力。雌雄异株F. capreifolia的林分较大，但无花果密度低，没有记录到成熟的雌性（含种子）无花果。尽管无花果树可能是唯一结出果实的物种，但三种榕属植物对繁殖的低投入造成的后果是显而易见的-无花果对于景观尺度的基石作用而言太少了。