Hi, we're here from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.

I'm Cody Gough.

And I'm Ashley Hamer.

Today you learn about mast years in trees.

Then you'll learn about surprisingly smart animals and how they can use tools from

adventurer and filmmaker Casey Anderson. What's satisfy some curiosity?

If you have oak trees in your neighborhood, maybe you've noticed that some years

the ground is carpeted with their acorns,

while other years there are hardly any.

Biologists call this pattern masting,

and many other types of trees show similar synchronization in seed production. The question is, why and

how do trees do it? Is it cued by the weather or are the trees talking to each other?

Whatever the answer, we can't help but be amazed at the ingenious strategies devised by nature.

Let's first consider why.

If trees coordinate their seed production, seed-eating animals and insects are likely to get full before they eat all the seeds produced in a mast ear,

which leaves the rest to sprout.

Also, squirrels will bury more of the seeds instead of eating them immediately,

thereby spreading oaks across the landscape.

But how do trees synchronize their seed production to get these benefits?

Well first, producing a big crop of seeds takes a lot of energy.

So trees may need to skip years in order to focus on growing or replenishing their stored starches.

Weather conditions obviously are also important, especially spring weather.

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