There are 55 species of oak trees native to the United States, 20 of them in Illinois. Other wind-pollinated species that also have mast years include walnut and hickory trees.

News. Oak trees keep dropping acorns this fall. Here’s how a ‘mast’ year impacts North Texas Scientists are still unsure what triggers a mast year, but there are a few theories as to why ...

If you have oak trees in your neighborhood, perhaps you’ve noticed that some years the ground is carpeted with their acorns, and some years there are hardly any. Biologists call this pattern, in ...

But, you know, there are some people that think, okay, when oak trees get really stressed, they put on a bumper crop of acorns just kind of in case they die. You know, it’s a last-ditch effort ...

In a typical year, a healthy oak tree produces around 2,000 acorns. In a mast year, which is what some oak trees are experiencing now, they can produce a whopping 10,000 acorns.

Cover your head and don't look up! Naturalists say this is a "mast year" in much of the country, when hardwood trees drop an overabundance of nuts. SIMON: Good times for a walk in the woods to ...

Of all the magnificent trees that shade our yards and line our streets, the most bountiful are oaks. “Oaks feed more wildlife than any other trees in our region,” said Spencer Campbell,… ...

"I like mast years," Sandler said. "It gets more people looking at trees." There also was an abundance of acorns in 2010. Back then, several people also called the Michigan State extension service ...

Oak, the genus Quercus, is bumped into, climbed up in, sat under and fed upon by many during fall hunting, hiking, firewood cutting and photographing sessions. Two categories of oak trees provide ...

Enhance wildlife plots with hard mast trees. Daniel Leonard. ... Little did I know at the time, these honey holes were often composed of only a few select species of oak.

This could be attributed to the cyclical nature of mature oak trees, which shed an increased number of acorns during a “mast year,” which occurs every three to five years.

Different oak species can mast at different times and for different reasons. This year, it is mainly red and live oak tree acorns. Besides the general cycle they track, the phenomenon is a bit of ...