this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
1221 points (96.3% liked)
Memes
45575 readers
1434 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It's called a mast year. Every 3 to 5 years the trees in an area produce an enormous amount of fruit, then on the next year it's super low. Scientists think the trees produce more mast (botanical term for fruit of forest trees and shrubs, like acorns etc) than the animals could possibly eat, which guarantees that some seeds can grow into saplings. We don't know exactly what triggers it though.