Scientists Baffled!

It's not like scientists to be baffled, at least not the one's I know... So anytime I see signs of bafflement on the part of scientists, I make sure to pay attention. Here's and interesting article, entitled Scientists baffled by mysterious acorn shortage that really leads into the mystery of nature.

Story Highlights

Naturalists are baffled this fall by a shortage of acorns in the eastern U.S.

+ Residents in some areas report plenty of acorns, while others have seen none at all

+ Acorn growth runs in cycles, so a lean year may be normal after last year's big crop

+ Some scientists fear the shortage will affect squirrel populations

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/12/acorn.shortage/index.html




Natures ways are mysterious to be sure. Many scientists now believe the mast cycle is an evolutionary adaptation; that over the eons oaks and other nut-bearing trees have developed an on-and-off mast cycle to ensure their reproductive survival. The theory makes sense. If oaks produced a consistently healthy crop of acorns every year, populations of nutloving animals would rise to the point where all the acorns would be eaten no matter how numerous.
Interestling, this only works if all the nut tree co-operate and synchronize together. In forests with more than one oak species, the number of acorns varies from year to year; some species take one year to go from flower to acorn while others take two, and each species produces a different amount of acorns. The effect of weather on acorn production also varies with each species. But every so often, most or all of the oak species in an area produce either a bumper crop or a paltry crop at the same time.
Surely wildlife is intimately connected to the trees and mast cycles. But what about the interconnectedness to humans, a man's role in mast cycles? The word itself may give us a clue

mast - fallen nuts; food for swine," O.E. mæst, from P.Gmc. *mastaz (cf. Du., Ger. mast "mast," O.E. verb mæsten "to fatten, feed")

(taken from Muck & Mystery - Loitering with Intent)

As a kid, I was always under the impression that scientists pretty much knew everything. If not all scientist, then at least collectively or maybe just the best scientists. As an adult, not so much. Nature has proven to be very hard to figure out, very humbling.

Hmmm..humbling,... human ...coincidence?

HUMAN - c.1250, from M.Fr. humain "of or belonging to man," from L. humanus, probably related to homo (gen. hominis) "man," and to humus "earth," on notion of "earthly beings," as opposed to the gods (cf. Heb. adam "man," from adamah "ground").