permaculture

["wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk" <wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk>]

>From wikipedia

Masting[1] refers to a mass seeding phenomenon exhibited by some species of 
plants which can be defined as "synchronous production of seed at long 
intervals by a population of plants"[2], strict masting only occurs in 
species that are monocarpic (or semelparous) -- individuals of the species 
only reproduce once during their lifetime, then die.[3]

Mast seeding happens in a Mast year related to that particular species in 
that particular region.

and also

A mast year is a year in which vegetation produces a significant abundance of 
mast (fruit). The term originally applied solely to trees, like oak trees, 
that produce fruit useful for feeding farm animals. The term "mast" comes 
from the Old English word "mæst", meaning the nuts of forest trees that have 
accumulated on the ground, especially those used as food for fattening 
domestic pigs.[1]

More generally, Masting[2] describes not only abundance, but also paucity of 
fruit production, so masting is a group phenomenon that results when plants 
within a population synchronize their reproductive activity both in time and 
in size of crop.

Masting is the process whereby trees drop a large amount of seeds. This 
provides food for rats and stoats, whose populations can explode. In turn, 
this makes it more likely that birds will be targeted by the pests,[3] or 
that rats will invade nearby fields in what is called a rat flood.

Do not worry that you have not heard of it before.

Even  the American Scientist has an article stating that even they do not 
know much about it.
(This is one reason why I find it so fascinating ;-)

FEATURE ARTICLE
The Mystery of Masting in Trees

Some trees reproduce synchronously over large areas, with widespread 
ecological effects, but how and why?

Walter Koenig, Johannes Knops

Masting, driven by cues that are poorly understood, is a reproductive pattern 
in which an entire population of organisms reproduce at once. Populations 
that are widely separated—even on different continents—often mast 
simultaneously. Our authors, drawing on their research on California oaks, 
compare several explanations for the masting seen in several tree species. 
Pollen and seed production may be synchronized across wide geographic areas 
because of chemical or physical connections and large-scale weather patterns. 
Masting might enhance pollination efficiency or impose a satiation-starvation 
cycle on seed predators, providing evolutionary advantages. Global warming 
may affect masting behavior, but the connections are not yet clear.

--- On Tue, 1/10/12, Steve Hart <stevenlawrencehart@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Steve Hart <stevenlawrencehart@gmail.com>
> Subject: [permaculture] What is Masting
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 4:28 AM
> What is Masting..I've been around
> awhile in many different arenas and never
> heard of the term "Masting" ..What is it ? ..Steve Hart
> 
> 
> >
> > Kia ora
> [image: Picture]
> Steve Hart
> Ecology Architect
> skype: stevenlawrencehart
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