| In the early fall, some temperate zone trees including dogwoods and magnolias produce fruits that taste sour and actually have a high fat content. Because of their taste, they are not attractive to mammals. Their ripening is timed perfectly for migrating songbirds, which need fuel for their long flight south, and high-fat fruits are a much more efficient source of energy than those which are high in sugar. In the temperate forests, seeds and nuts are an even more important food source than fruit to many animals. Fruit is only available at certain times of the year and can not be stored over the winter. |
Above: Squirrels eat large quantities of coniferous tree seeds, often eating in the same spot many times, and eventually leaving a substantial pile of empty cone husks, called a "midden". Below: Typical coniferous tree cone and the seeds it contains (Douglas-fir). Photos by Maya Walters. |
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Nuts from trees, such as acorns, and seeds from many conifers can usually be found scattered over the forest floor, even when the crop of nuts and seeds still on the trees are not ripe. The fact that they store well makes them an ideal winter food source for small mammals such as squirrels. The populations of squirrels actually rise and fall with the abundance of seeds and nuts each year. These animals do destroy some of the seeds by eating them. The squirrels distribute them widely and bury them in caches great distances from the parent plant, and since many caches of seeds are forgotten and left to sprout, the squirrels help the trees to spread to new areas. |
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