OPUS: The role seed dispersal in forest ecosystem function: lessons from the oaks

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The main goal of this project is to write a book that summarizes more than 25 years of research about how acorns are dispersed and why dispersal is important for regeneration of forests in eastern North America and many other places. Curiously, the same animals that disperse acorns (mostly rodents and jays) also destroy them by eating them. The book will demonstrate how these animals hide and often forget about acorns, allowing the acorns to germinate, oak seedlings to take root, and forests to grow. The book will show: (1) how differences among acorns influence where and when animals disperse them, (2) how acorn dispersal benefits forests, (3) how year-to-year differences in the size of acorn crops influence the dispersal process, (4) how acorn dispersal varies with forest type, and (5) how the activity of top predators in a forest ecosystem can fundamentally alter the process of acorn dispersal. This project will re-evaluate some of the traditional views of seed dispersal and will demonstrate that help of researchers from a variety of scientific disciplines is necessary for understanding how acorns are dispersed and why dispersal is important for conservation of oak forests.The book will reveal new insights into how the underlying relationship between seeds and seed consumers (seed predators and dispersers) drive numerous ecological processes in forest ecosystems (e.g., forest structure, masting, the evolution of seed characteristics, and even predator/prey interactions), and how many of these processes feed back into the dispersal process. As such, this project will re-frame and re-evaluate some of the traditional views of seed dispersal and its influence on forest ecosystem processes. The book will support and promote improvements in oak forest management and conservation, especially in the context of climate change. The book will also have important implications for understanding the lack of oak regeneration, which is a significant problem in many deciduous forests of the U.S. and beyond (Northwest Canada, Spain, Portugal, and Scotland). Furthermore, it will be useful in developing plans for reintroduction of the American chestnut tree into its native range, and the potential impact of an invasive Asian oak species, now widespread throughout eastern North America. From an educational perspective, the project will provide: (1) new insights for students and researchers on the importance of multidisciplinary approaches for understanding complex ecological processes, (2) an opportunity for three or more undergraduates interested in scientific journalism to assist in the research, produce figures, and edit the book, and (3) dissemination of the book to a network of Primarily Undergraduate Institutions involved in the NSF-funded Ecological Research Educational Network initiative, as well as to high schools in northeastern Pennsylvania.