THE ACORN CONNECTION

a b c

d e f
The tick that carries Lyme disease (c) feeds on both the white-footed mouse (b) and the
white-tailed deer (d). Oak leaves (f) are an important food for the deer and for gypsy
moths (e), while oak acorns (a) are important food for the mouse. But the mouse also
eats the moths. The more mice, the fewer gypsy moths, but the more ticks.

As young children, most people learn that acorns grow into oak trees. In fact, though
most acorn do not grow onto trees but become food for mice, chipmunks, squirrels,
and deer. In the woodlands of the northeastern United State, where oak trees
abound, large crops of acorn are produced every three to four years. Acorn are rich
in protein and fats and an excellent source of nutrition. A steady supply of acorns
would be an excellent food base for the woodland animals.
The production of acorn is affected by the amount of light and rain, the temperature
patterns over the year, and the quality of the soil. Scientist reason that if oaks
produced the same number of acorns each year, the population of animals that feed
on them would grow so large that very few acorns would survive.
In reality, the number of acorns produced varies from year to year, with “mast” years-
years of high production- occurring occasionally. In the years between bumper crops
of acorns, mice population decline. With the next bumper crop, there are more
acorns than can be eaten by the consumers of acorns, so many acorns survive to
become oaks. Also, because of the abundance of food, the mice population
increase.
White-footed mice make up one such population. These mice also carry tick larvae.
As the ticks feed on the blood of the mice, they pick up the microorganisms
responsible for Lyme disease. Mice population are highest during the summer
following a bumper crop of acorns, and so are the thick larvae.
In later stages of their life cycle, ticks attach to other animals, including deer. As
deer brush against plants, ticks are deposited. The ticks can be picked up by people
brushing against the plants as they walk past. If an infected tick bites a person, the
person may contract Lyme disease. As second-growth forest area has increased and
deer population have soared, Lyme disease has become the most common tick-
borne disease in the United States.
Why has forest area increased? Beginning in colonial times, the forest of the
northeastern United States were cleared to make space for farming and settlements,
to provide fuel, and to provide timber for commercial uses. As coal, oil, and gas
replaced wood as a primary fuel and as farming moved westward to the more fertile
Great Plains, field that had been cleared were abandoned. In many areas, the
maximum clearing occurred around 1900. Since then, forest have grown back.
But let’s return to the mice. In addition to feeding on acorns (and other grains), mice
feed on insects, including larvae of the gypsy moth. Gypsy moth larvae feed on
leaves of trees and are particularly fond of oak leaves. Studies suggest that in years
when mice populations are low-the years between bumper crops of acorn-gypsy
moth population ca increase dramatically. During these periodic outbreaks, gypsy
moth larvae can virtually denude an area, stripping the leaves from the trees. Oaks
that have lost most or all of their leaves may not produce bumper crops of acorns.
Once the leaves are of the trees, more light reaches the ground, and seedlings of
many plants that could not do well in deep forest shades begin to grow. As a result
other species of trees may gain foothold in the forest and change its species profile.
Of course, the next generation of gypsy moth larvae find little to eat, and the
population of gypsy moths begin to decline again.
Abundant acorns draw deer into the woods, where they browse on small plants and
trees seedlings. Tick drop off the deer and lay eggs in the leaf litter. When the eggs
hatch, the larvae attach to mice, and the cycle of Lyme disease continues. Deer do
not eat ferns, however, and in areas where deer population are dense, many ferns
but few wildflowers and trees seedlings are found. Predators are also affected by the
periodic nature of acorn crops, for example, birds that feed on gypsy moth larvae
lose a food source when moth population are low. When moth population are high,
however, bird nests are more exposed to predators because trees lose so many
leaves.
Critical Thinking Issue
HOW ARE THE BORDERS OF AN ECOSYSTEM DEFINED?
The borders between ecosystems may be well defined or gradual. Those considered
well defined include freshwater streams. Such ecosystems are often studied
separately from surrounding ecosystems by researchers with different training and
using different methods. Recent research streams in southern Alaska in which
salmon spawn has raised questions about the practice of studying aquatic and
terrestrial ecosystems separately.
Salmon are anadromous fish-fish that come from the ocean to spawn in freshwater
streams. In southern Alaska, enormous numbers of salmon spawn in over 5,000
streams. Although salmon are born in freshwater, they migrate to the ocean, where
most of their growth occurs. After return to their home streams, they spawn and die.
In one sense, therefore, salmon are a means of transporting resources from the
ocean to freshwater. Because of their large number, salmon have a potential of
making significant contributions to organic and mineral content of streams.
Salmon have a high lipid content compared with many other fish and are thus a good
source for the animals that prey on them. In addition, their decay adds nitrogen,
phosphorus, carbon, and other inorganic elements to freshwater. In one lake in
western Alaska, for example, its 24 million fish add 170 tons of phosphorus to the
lake each year- an amount equal to or greater than recommended rates for applying
fertilizers to trees. When the fish die, their carcasses decay and provide nourishment
for algae, fungi, and bacteria. Invertebrates feed on these and on decaying bits of
fish. Other fish feed on the invertebrates. Finally, bears and other carnivores eat
salmon, both live and dead, during their upstream migration. In that way, nutrients
derived from salmon pass into the soil and vegetation surrounding the stream.
Spawning fish have higher proportions of heavy isotopes of nitrogen and carbon.
These can be used to trace the relative contributions of anadromous fish to the
nitrogen and carbon content of organisms in the food web. One such study showed
that spawning salmon contribute 10.9% of the nitrogen found in invertebrate
predators and 17.5% in the foliage or riparian plants. While it is not surprising to find
aquatic invertebrates, which feed on salmon eggs and juveniles, with large amount
of nitrogen derived from salmon, researchers were surprised at the high levels in
stream-side vegetation. When terrestrial mammals and birds feed on salmon, their
feces and any uneaten carcasses decay and add nutrient to the soil, where they can
be eaten up through the roots of plants. In southeast Alaska, over 40 species of
mammals and birds feed on salmon. Salmon migration attract large number of
predators to streams and lakes. Salmon and other anadromous fish thus appear to
link the ocean, freshwater, and land to an extent that is only beginning to be
appreciated.