Up and down the East Coast, residents and naturalists alike have been scratching their heads this autumn over a simple question: Where are all the acorns?
...Oak trees have shed their leaves, but the usual carpet of acorns is not crunching underfoot.
..."I can't think of any other year like this," said Alonso Abugattas, director of the Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington, Virginia.
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webmaster
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Acorns Missing in U.S. East Coast?
CNN reports that folks are confounded by [url=https://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/12/acorn.shortage/]missing acorns[/url]. Have you seen any acorns this year?
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MagnoliaMan
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The following is an article from the Kansas State University Research and Extension Newsletter by Ward Upham, Extension Associate:
Small Acorn Crop
Many people have noticed a small to nonexistent
acorn crop this year, especially among members of
the red oak group (pin, red, black, blackjack,
Shumard). We think at least part of the reason was
the Easter freeze of 2007. The red oak group takes
two growing seasons to develop acorns, and so
damage to the newly forming acorns in 2007 would
result in a lack of mature acorns now. The white oak
group (bur, post, white, chinkapin) takes only one
growing season to mature acorns and so would not be affected by the Easter freeze. However,
keep in mind that acorn crops vary from year to year due to weather. This is especially true of
trees that are “in the wildâ€
Small Acorn Crop
Many people have noticed a small to nonexistent
acorn crop this year, especially among members of
the red oak group (pin, red, black, blackjack,
Shumard). We think at least part of the reason was
the Easter freeze of 2007. The red oak group takes
two growing seasons to develop acorns, and so
damage to the newly forming acorns in 2007 would
result in a lack of mature acorns now. The white oak
group (bur, post, white, chinkapin) takes only one
growing season to mature acorns and so would not be affected by the Easter freeze. However,
keep in mind that acorn crops vary from year to year due to weather. This is especially true of
trees that are “in the wildâ€
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applestar
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Wow. This is interesting. Our Willow Oak had plenty of acorns though (I rather thought there were MORE than usual). I had PLANNED to take the kids on an acorn/oak ID'ing nature walk this autumn, but we never made it to the local arboritum. Now I wish we had gone.
Could this actually be GOOD news..? I remember reading somewhere that increase in incidences of Lymes disease goes through cycles (of 3 yrs, if I remember correctly) linked to abundance of acorn crop. I'm a little fuzzy on the details right now, but it was something like (yr 1) more acorns ->> (2) more deer and mice ->> (3) more deer ticks + even more next gen mice to distribute the tics. So if there are less acorns, maybe there will be less ticks??
... but then, that's a very limited/narrow focus view -- acorns must provide food for a lot of wildlife, not to mention the forest renewal of LEFT OVER sprouting acorns growing into new oak trees.
Could this actually be GOOD news..? I remember reading somewhere that increase in incidences of Lymes disease goes through cycles (of 3 yrs, if I remember correctly) linked to abundance of acorn crop. I'm a little fuzzy on the details right now, but it was something like (yr 1) more acorns ->> (2) more deer and mice ->> (3) more deer ticks + even more next gen mice to distribute the tics. So if there are less acorns, maybe there will be less ticks??
... but then, that's a very limited/narrow focus view -- acorns must provide food for a lot of wildlife, not to mention the forest renewal of LEFT OVER sprouting acorns growing into new oak trees.