For those wondering about an abundance of pinecones dangling from tree limbs this year there may be a few explanations.
Shelley Hunt, director of the Arboretum at the University of Guelph, explained trees vary in seed production from year to year and every now and then, in an unpredictable pattern, trees do something called masting.
“Trees will try to outsmart the seed predators like squirrels by every once in a while producing these huge crops that there’s no way the squirrels could possibly eat them all and that way there are going to be some left over to actually sprout and grow,” she said.
So this year may be a masting year for trees like white pines, spruces and maple trees.
Hunt also said the abundance of seeds this season may be intensified by last year’s drought and tree evolutionary survival mode.
“I think it’s true for some kinds of trees that when we see lots of seeds being produced it may be those trees trying to … save themselves,” she explained.
“The idea is that when you have really, really harsh conditions one year the trees may try to hedge their bets and maybe assume that it’s going to be maybe just as terrible the next year and that they might die and they need to reproduce themselves and produce some seed to take over just in case they actually kick the bucket.”
Even though trees will likely be expending a large amount of energy during masting, Hunt said healthy trees shouldn’t have an issue next year.
“It can be a risk for a tree to use so much energy making seeds and cones but for a healthy tree that’s doing well it’s not going to mean that the next year it’s going to be really hurting,” she said.
While there is potential for a fresh new crop of saplings in the spring, Hunt said it’s quite the journey for a tree to grow to maturity.
“The seed has … to have a good spot to germinate, so a white pine growing on someone’s lawn, the seeds that fall from that are not necessarily going to do very well because a lawn isn’t a very good place for pine seedlings to grow without a lot of help,” Hunt said.
“So in a kind of forest situation, yeah sure, you could see more baby trees sprouting, but then they have to survive.
“They’re pretty delicate and fragile when they’re little and they have to survive being eaten by deer and rabbits and that sort of thing too, so it’s a tough road for baby trees.”
