Although the consequences of cotyledon removal have been widely studied in oaks producing large acorns, we have little knowledge of at what level cotyledons can be removed without affecting acorn survival and seedling development. In this study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that the amount of energy reserves in cotyledons is more than the demands of seedlings and that large acorns can tolera...

We measured patterns of spatial synchrony in growth and reproduction by oaks using direct acorn surveys, published data on acorn production, and tree-ring chronologies. The two data sets involving acorn production both indicate that acorn crops are detectably synchronous over areas of at least 500 to 1,000 km not only within individual species but among species that require the same number of y...

We propose a mathematical model for fault-tolerant routing based on acyclic orientations, or acorns, of the underlying network G = (V; E). The acorn routing model applies routing tables that store the set of parent pointers associated with each out-neighborhood de ned by the acorn. Unlike the standard single-parent sink-tree model, which is vulnerable to faults, the acorn model a ords a full re...

Forest communities change in response to shifting climate, changing land use, and species introductions, as well as the interactions of established species. We surveyed the oak (Quercus L. spp.) community and Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus (Swainson, 1827)) population within 230 ha of oak forest and savanna in central coastal California in 1979 and 2013 to assess demographic changes ...

The size of acorns produced by several species of eastern North American oaks decreases with latitude. We investigated three hypotheses for this pattern in the bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa Michx.) using samples collected over 2 years throughout the species’ range. We found strong support for the hypothesis that abiotic factors, including both temperature and rainfall, constrain acorn size. There...

To understand how different trophic organisms in a parasite food chain adapt to the differences in soil nutrient conditions, we investigated stoichiometric variation and homeostasis of multiple elements in two acorn trees, Quercus variabilis and Quercus acutissima, and their parasite weevil larvae (Curculio davidi Fairmaire) at phosphorus (P)-deficient and P-rich sites in subtropical China wher...

In 2000, we determined levels of damage by acorn weevils (Curculio spp.) and patterns of acorn fall in a northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) seedling orchard in eastern Tennessee. The mean (ISE) production of acorns among 43 selected trees was 5,930 rt 586 acorns per tree with a maximum production level of 16,969 acorns for one tree. Trees were selected in the spring of 2000 based on abundance ...

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Risk of exposure to Lyme disease is a function of the local abundance of nymphal Ixodes ticks that are infected with the etiological agent, the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. We monitored abundance of white-footed mice (the principal B. burgdorferi reservoir in the eastern and central United States) and acorns (a critical food resource for mice), and Ixodes scapularis ticks, as well as ambien...

Although prolonged seed retention, or serotiny, is believed to be an adaptation to highly variable environments such as the Mediterranean regions of California, no prior study has systematically investigated the prevalence of seed retention among California oaks (family Fagaceae), the dominant woody taxon in California foothill woodlands. We quantified the extent to which acorns were retained i...