Lots of fallen acorns under an english oak tree during a mast year, autumn 2020. Bumper year for acorns.
Every few years, some species of trees and shrubs produce a bumper crop of their fruits or nuts. The collective term for these fruits and nuts is 'mast', so we call this a mast year. One of the main theories for this behaviour is ‘predator satiation’. Take oak as an example. Animals like squirrels, jays, mice and badgers feed on the acorns. When the trees produce smaller crops for a few consecutive years, they are in effect keeping the populations of these animals in check. But during a mast year, the trees produce more food than the animals can possibly eat. This abundance causes a boom in populations of small mammals like mice. More importantly, it guarantees some will be left over to survive and grow into new trees. Mast years have a major evolutionary advantage for the tree. Producing nuts is costly work and slightly stunts the tree’s growth, but as it tends to happen every 5-10 years, it’s worth the payoff for some of the crop to germinate into new saplings. 2020 is a mast year for acorns, possibly due to the warm spring weather conditions. When spring is warm and dry, pollination of oak flowers is very effective and this results in a large crop of acorns.
Size: 5481px × 3654px
Location: Hampshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © Gillian Pullinger / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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