Acorns, lot's of them. Every few years Oak trees produce an excessively abundant crop of acorns. And I don't mean individual trees, but, with some degree of variation, all trees. In any given year, either they do, or they don't, as a group. This phenomenon is known as Masting. The species as a whole benefits from this because the shear number of acorns means that many of them will not be eaten. This improves the odds that some will produce seedlings, of which some will eventually survive to become mature Oak trees.
Some believe Masting to be an indication that the Winter will be particularly harsh. For example, this from the Roanoke Times – Roanoke.com Judging by the acorns, winter looks ominous.
There is also a more scientific theory that Oaks "communicate" with each other via pheromones so that their acorn production will be synchronized.
However appealing or imaginative these explanations may be, I am skeptical of both. For several years I have been noting various conditions and trying to identify any relationships that may exist between observed conditions, and the yearly acorn production of two large Red Oak Quercus rubra that are in my yard.
It is no simple task. Flowers that germinate in the Spring do not produce the acorns that will fall the following Autumn, but in the Autumn of the following year. During this time, numerous factors could possibly affect the size of the acorn crop.
- How many female flowers are there? Because the female flowers arise from the tree's previous years growth, what conditions during the late Summer of the previous year determine the number of flowers? Do the conditions that the tree experienced during the Winter influence the quantity and/or quality of the female flowers?
- How many male flowers are there? Male flowers arise from the tree's current year's new growth. What factors affect their number and viability?
- Oaks are wind pollinated. How do weather conditions affect pollination? Are slightly windy days better than still? Are dry days better than humid?
- After pollination, Red Oaks develop pollen tubes, and the process then goes "on hold". How many flowers will survive until fertilization is completed the following year?
- Once the fertilization process is completed the following Spring, how many will mature to be Acorns that Autumn?
As can be seen, the process is complex, involving many factors over a period of two years between the beginning of the female flower and the time when it's acorns will fall.
This year, 2006, has proven to be a year that Masting has occurred. Not only to others in adjacent counties of Western Massachusetts report a bumper crop of acorns, but also in Roanoke Virginia, 500 miles away!
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