Seed survival story: How trees keep ‘friends’ close, ‘enemies’ guessing

Around the globe, forests are facing unprecedented challenges. They’re grappling with wildfires, diseases, droughts and deforestation. The survival of these great forests hinges on their ability to regrow — and for many trees, a process called “masting” is key to this regeneration.
Masting — the unpredictable boom-and-bust cycle of seed production — can have profound consequences for plant populations and the food webs that are built on their seeds. But the complex relationship between seed-production cycles and seed consumers and dispersers has been poorly understood.