this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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Somebody explain this to the trees that drop millions of nuts in the surrounding forest every few years skyrocketing not only rodent populations but also their parasites; ticks, chiggers, fleas. Predators are here, but they can't seem to catch up to the mouse output.
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.