Mast (botany) Mast seeding is defined as the highly variable production of fruit by a population. These intermittent pulses of food resources drive ecosystem-level functions and forest dynamics. The difference between a mast seeding year and a non-mast seeding year can be thousands of acorns, hickory nuts, beech nuts, etc. Mast seeding dominantly occurs in wind-pollinated tree species, but has also been observed in grasses and Dipterocarps. Masting, in the strict sense of the term, occurs only in monocarpic (or semelparous) species, whose members reproduce only once during their lifetime, then die. Hypothesis for the evolution of mast seeding can broadly be
Natural beech wood the long run. A natural beech wood have beech trees of all ages, including fallen and dead trees. Other tree species might be mixed in, but not to a degree that threatens the dominant beech. The term is also used for other tree species, such as 'natural oak wood', 'natural birch wood', etc.. Examples of natural beech wood forests, includes: Agricultural practices can often change the original soil-compositions so much, that the specific natural woodland type once associated with the local area, will change too. This change is almost irreversible. This condition has now affected most of Europe. Local or