I’m typically a rose colored glasses optimist, but I couldn’t help but think about our warming planet and how last year the solstice was followed by higher than normal temperatures. Good news for the squirrels and deer! This year will be yet again warmer. Another boom year for woodland babies. Now add 5 years, 10 years of increasing warmth. The natural balance - what happens now? Will the forest strike a new healthy balance? Or will it find the change too rapid to accommodate? Or has it been naturally making adjustments for the past few decades? Change this drastic used to take millennia.
Thanks, Bridget. It seems that climate change is affecting the masting cycle. Here is an article describing a study on the impact that warming temperatures are having on this natural process as well as a much more detailed description of the masting phenomenon than I described in my essay.
Here is a quote from that study, addressing your question:
According to Koenig et al. (2016), proximate mechanisms drive masting behaviour in oaks. Resources accumulated by oaks are used for seed production, and more than one year is required to replenish them. Koenig et al. (2016) identified weather as a proximate driver of masting, and predicted that climate change is likely to increase frequency and abundance of the oaks masting.
A lovely contemplation to start the day. Thank you, Denise!
Thanks, Bridget. And may your day be abundantly joyful.
I’m typically a rose colored glasses optimist, but I couldn’t help but think about our warming planet and how last year the solstice was followed by higher than normal temperatures. Good news for the squirrels and deer! This year will be yet again warmer. Another boom year for woodland babies. Now add 5 years, 10 years of increasing warmth. The natural balance - what happens now? Will the forest strike a new healthy balance? Or will it find the change too rapid to accommodate? Or has it been naturally making adjustments for the past few decades? Change this drastic used to take millennia.
Thanks, Bridget. It seems that climate change is affecting the masting cycle. Here is an article describing a study on the impact that warming temperatures are having on this natural process as well as a much more detailed description of the masting phenomenon than I described in my essay.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720356138
Here is a quote from that study, addressing your question:
According to Koenig et al. (2016), proximate mechanisms drive masting behaviour in oaks. Resources accumulated by oaks are used for seed production, and more than one year is required to replenish them. Koenig et al. (2016) identified weather as a proximate driver of masting, and predicted that climate change is likely to increase frequency and abundance of the oaks masting.
Thanks,
Denise
Fabulous 👌
Thank you, Scott!