Today in Nature: The stories acorns tell

These humble acorns have an amazing story to tell

August 16th: These acorns tell a story. First, they reveal the age of the tree: most oaks don't produce acorns until they are at least 20 years old, most wait until they are 50. Squirrels depend on acorns for their winter diet, but most oaktrees don't produce acorns every year. So squirrel populations rise and fall with the rhythm of acorn production - so far, it looks like this year will be a good one. Squirrels have already eaten some of these acorns, the ones with their tops missing. The rest will get buried - one squirrel can bury up to two thousand nuts in a season, helping the oak tree to spread its seeds elsewhere in the forest. Quite a system!


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