The influence of climate on seed or fruit production and tree growth is a central question in forest ecology, with a key role on forest dynamics. However, the mechanisms linking inter- and intra-annual climate variability, fruiting and growth remain poorly understood, although they seem to be largely species-specific. The resource-matching hypothesis posits that fruit production responds to annual environmental variability, predicting a positive relationship between reproduction and growth, whereas other hypotheses such as resource switching or resource budget imply allocation trade-offs between reproduction and growth. Climate control over fruiting is thought to be more likely in variable, limiting environments such as those existing in seasonally dry Mediterranean forests. However, the studies about these forests are much scarcer than on temperate ecosystems, probably due to the sparseness and shortness of fruit production records. Here we analysed the relationships between monthly climate variables, tree-ring widths and fruit production at stand level in four tree species under different climatic conditions in Spain (12-27 trees and 24-54 radii were sampled in each site). For the species from xeric sites such as Pinus pinea, Castanea sativa and Quercus ilex, tree-ring width positively correlated with fruit production, as envisaged by the resource-matching hypothesis. This association was driven by prior wet winter climate conditions, which enhanced growth. Some of the significant correlations between climate variables and fruit yield corresponded to key reproductive phenophases. On the other hand, for the species from mesic sites (Abies alba) no positive growth–fruit production correlation was found, likely due to the mismatch in the effect of climatic factors on growth and fruiting. These results support the hypothesis that climatic conditions, particularly a positive water balance, play a major role as a proximate cause of fruit production in seasonally dry Mediterranean forests and underscore the importance of species-specific reproductive phenology traits.

气候对种子或果实生产和树木生长的影响是森林生态学的核心问题，对森林动态具有关键作用。然而，连接年际和年内气候变异、结果和生长的机制仍然知之甚少，尽管它们似乎主要是物种特异性的。资源匹配假说假定水果生产对年度环境变化做出反应，预测繁殖和生长之间存在正相关关系，而其他假设（如资源转换或资源预算）则暗示繁殖和生长之间的分配权衡。人们认为气候对果实的控制更有可能发生在可变的、限制性的环境中，例如存在于季节性干燥的地中海森林中的环境。然而，对这些森林的研究比对温带生态系统的研究少得多，这可能是由于水果生产记录的稀少和短促。在这里，我们分析了西班牙不同气候条件下四种树种的月气候变量、树木年轮宽度和水果产量之间的关系（每个站点采样 12-27 棵树和 24-54 半径）。对于来自干旱地区的物种，例如正如资源匹配假说所设想的那样，松树、栗树和冬青树的年轮宽度与果实产量呈正相关。这种关联是由先前潮湿的冬季气候条件驱动的，这促进了增长。气候变量与果实产量之间的一些显着相关性对应于关键的繁殖物候期。另一方面，对于来自中位点的物种（Abies alba) 未发现生长-果实产量呈正相关，可能是由于气候因素对生长和结果的影响不匹配。这些结果支持了以下假设，即气候条件，尤其是正的水平衡，在季节性干燥的地中海森林中作为水果生产的直接原因发挥着主要作用，并强调了物种特异性生殖物候特征的重要性。