Analyzing Patterns of Seed Production for Chinese Torreya

• Main Authors: Xiongwen Chen, Hua Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) 2020-04-01
• Series: HortScience
• Subjects: climate; coefficient of variance in seed production; multiscale entropy; power laws
• Online Access: https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/55/6/article-p778.xml

Chinese Torreya (Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii) is an important economic tree in China, but there are limited studies on its seed production. We analyzed the patterns of historical seed production at two major sites (Zhaojiazhen and Jidongzhen) for Chinese Torreya from different perspectives. The results indicated that there were no 3-year or multiyear cycles in its seed production. A positive correlation existed between the average seed production and the average annual air temperature in 5 or 10 years at both study sites. There was no trend of the increasing coefficient of variance (cv) in seed production, but the cv generally increased before 1975, and became flat after that time. Frequency power law existed in seed production at both sites, but Taylor’s Law existed only at Zhaojiazhen. The multiscale entropy decreased with time scales, and the patterns were similar at both sites. Our research results provide a new understanding of seed production for Chinese Torreya.