DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs8v
title: Enterolobium cyclocarpum database of abortions and seed weight in five populations of Mexico and Costa Rica

description: Premise of study Analyses of the variation in the abortion rate and weight
 of seeds of tropical trees are scarce, despite their importance in
 modulating an important factor (seed production) and maintaining the
 functioning of tropical ecosystems. The different factors that affect the
 survival and development of seeds in tropical trees are largely unknown.
 Methods We studied the patterns of intrafruit ovule and seed loss and seed
 weight in fruits of the Guanacaste tree, Enterolobium cyclocarpum, in
 samples of trees from 5 populations in Mexico and Costa Rica. We analyzed
 the effects of developmental phase, fruit and maternal tree effects, and
 seed position within the fruit on the abortion rate and weight of seeds
 from mature and immature fruits. Naturally, pollinated flowers were
 studied to determine the degree of ovule fertilization within the ovaries.
 Key results Overdispersion of the abortion rate per fruit within trees and
 a higher frequency of abortions in the extreme positions of the fruit are
 common patterns in all populations. This pattern is observed from the
 beginning of fruit formation. Ovules in the stylar position do not present
 higher survival rates, despite their precedence in fertilization. A
 negative relationship was found between the number of abortion events and
 seed weight. The greatest sources of variation in abortion and seed weight
 were observed within trees. Conclusions Fruit-specific fertilization and
 developmental conditions seem to be the main factors driving the
 probability of abortion and the seed weight within Guanacaste fruits,
 causing high variability in seed survival and vigor within maternal tress.
 In contrast to the findings of other studies in legumes, the fertilization
 of ovules is not important for seed development. The correlation between
 the fruit abortion rate and seed weight may be related to the sink
 capacity of the fruit, which affects the development of all the seeds in
 the fruit.
description: Five tree populations were sampled: three in Mexico (San Lucas
 (SL), Chamela-Cuixmala (CEC) and Veracruz (VER)) and two in Costa Rica,
 Central America (El Rodeo (ROD) and Santa Rosa (SR)). During 2021 we
 collected fruits from the ground under the tree canopy during the fruiting
 season (February–May) at the mentioned locations. An average of 10 trees
 were sampled at each location, with 10 fruits collected per tree. The
 fruits were taken to the laboratory, where they were opened, the seeds
 were individually weighed, and their positions in the fruit were recorded.
 The positions of the aborted and mature seeds were noted. An abortion
 event was recorded when the locule was empty or contained a small,
 deformed seed (wrinkled at the edges and very flat); most aborted seeds
 weighed less than 0.2 g, although some slightly heavier seeds were
 classified as abortions due to their shape. Normal fill seeds and abortion
 events were classified by their position in the fruit into three
 categories: stylar position (closest to the style position), basal
 (closest to the flower pedicel) or intermediate (any position between
 these two extreme positions). The total number of locules (empty and with
 abortions) and the total number of filled seeds per fruit were counted. 
 Mature seeds were weighed using an 1 mg electronic precision balance
 (Ohaus).
description: # Enterolobium cyclocarpum database of abortions and seed weight in five
 populations of Mexico and Costa Rica
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs8v](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs8v) There are two datasets Abort and seed data_CRMX presents the contents of fruits of Guanacaste trees (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) sampled in five populations from Mexico and Costa Rica.  SR_fruit data presents information of individual fruits collected in the Santa Rosa population. ## Description of the data and file structure **Abort and seed data_CRMX** Each line contains the data of individual seeds or abort in each fruit.  Variables names and coding are: Loc:  population where the fruit was collected (SL = San Lucas (Mexico). VER = Veracruz (Mexico), CEC = Chamela-Cuixmala (Mexico), SR = Santa Rosa (Costa Rica), ROD = El Rodeo (Costa Rica)). Tree: Tree code   Fruit_code: Name of the fruit (within each tree). Seed: Seed number within fruit, where number 1 is the stylar position.   Weight: Weight of the seed in grams (empty space if it is an abortion). Nloc: Number of locules of the fruit (seeds+aborts) Pos: BStylar = stylar position, CBasal= pedicelar position, AInterme = a seed between the two extreme positions. Abort: 1= abort, 0= viable seed NSeedV:  Number of viables seeds in the fruit n/a (not available) in the Weight variable are empty locules or very small aborts **SR_fruit data** Tree: Tree code Fruit: number of the fruit within the tree Fruit_code: Name of the fruit (within each tree). Nloc: number of locules (aborts + seeds) of each fruit. Fruit_weight: weight of the fruit (without seeds) in grams. Nloc: Number of locules of the fruit (seeds+aborts) Abort: number of aborts in the fruit NSeedV: number of viable seeds in the fruit Abort_rate: the ratio Aborto/Nloc of the fruit Fseed.ratio: the ratio Fruit_weight/NSeedV, grams of fruit per seed n/a (not available) are empty cells ## Code/Software **R script used in the data analysis of fixed and random effects on the abortion probabilty and seed weight:** library(lme4) CRMX_sem_2023&lt;-Abort_and_seed_data_CRMX \# analysis of the effect of fixed and random effects on the probability of abort \# these commands are repeated for each population in CRMX_sem_2023 m0&lt;-glmer(Aborto~Nsem+Pos+(1|Loc/Arbol/CodFruto),data=CRMX_sem_2023,family=binomial,REML=FALSE) m1&lt;-glmer(Aborto~Pos+(1|Loc/Arbol/CodFruto),data=CRMX_sem_2023,family=binomial,REML=FALSE) m2&lt;-glmer(Aborto~Nsem+(1|Loc/Arbol/CodFruto),data=CRMX_sem_2023,family=binomial,REML=FALSE) AIC(m0,m1,m2) CRMX_sem_2023_noab&lt;-CRMX_sem_2023[ which(CRMX_sem_2023$Aborto==0), ] \# analysis of the effect of fixed and random effects on seed weight m0&lt;-lmer(Peso~Nsem+Pos+NSemV+(1|Loc/Arbol/CodFruto),data=CRMX_sem_2023_noab,REML=FALSE) m1&lt;-lmer(Peso~Pos+NSemV+(1|Loc/Arbol/CodFruto),data=CRMX_sem_2023_noab,REML=FALSE) m2&lt;-lmer(Peso~Nsem+Pos+(1|Loc/Arbol/CodFruto),data=CRMX_sem_2023_noab,REML=FALSE) m3&lt;-lmer(Peso~Nsem+NSemV+(1|Loc/Arbol/CodFruto),data=CRMX_sem_2023_noab,REML=FALSE) AIC(m0,m1,m2,m3) \# analysis of the effect of fruit weight on seed weigh in SR population m0&lt;-lmer(Peso~Nsem+Pos+NSemV+Peso.del.fruto+(1|Arbol/CodFruto),data=SR_fruit_data,REML=FALSE)