Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Bizarre absence of acorns in parts of the United States

In some parts of the US, there's been reports that trees aren't bearing acorns this year. "We're talking zero. Not a single acorn. It's really bizarre," said Greg Zell, a naturalist at Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Revenge of Gaia?

First it came for the frogs.

Then the bees.

Now, the acorns.

Who's next? One guess...

Anonymous said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_year

Katie said...

You'd never know it to look at my yard. I've pulled more sprouting acorns out of my gardens this year than in years past.

Anonymous said...

This is stupid. Oaks don't produce the same amounts of acorns each year. For some years there could be little to no acorns and then ther will be a year with a hugh amount. There is probably an evolutionary benefit from this, meaning that in the years where there is an overabundance, more acorns will sprout while in the years where acorns are lean, it will tend to curb the population size of the animals that eat the acorns.

Mac said...

I think the assumed anomaly here is that some oaks don't seem to be producing *any* acorns, not just fewer than usual.