Oak trees delay leaf emergence to cut caterpillar damage by 55%
Updated
Updated · Good News Network · May 3
Oak trees delay leaf emergence to cut caterpillar damage by 55%
7 articles · Updated · Good News Network · May 3
Scientists using Sentinel-1 satellite data over 2,400 sq km in northern Bavaria found oaks sprout three days later after heavy infestation the previous year.
The study in Nature Ecology and Evolution analysed 137,500 observations from 2017 to 2021, including a severe 2019 gypsy moth outbreak, and found the delay sharply lowers caterpillar survival.
Researchers say the finding shows spring leaf timing responds to biological threats as well as temperature, helping explain slower greening in some years and improving forest models under climate change.
As climate change pushes spring earlier, can trees outsmart pests in this evolutionary tug-of-war?
How do oak trees 'remember' past caterpillar attacks to strategically delay their spring leaves?