The ground plot counting method: A valid and reliable assessment tool for quantifying seed production in temperate oak forests?

Masting, or mast-seeding, defined as a synchronized and highly variable seed production from year-to-year within a population of plants, is one of the most common example of pulsed resources in terrestrial ecosystems. In oaks, the dramatic fluctuations of acorn production impact its reproductive success and regeneration, the dynamics of a large diversity of seed consumers that rely on it, and, by cascade effects, the dynamics of the entire...