ACORN PRODUCTION BY OAKS IN CENTRAL COASTAL CALIFORNIA - INFLUENCE OFWEATHER AT 3 LEVELS

Mean annual acorn crop size of oaks in central coastal California corr elated with weather for four of five species. For the deciduous Quercu s lobata and Quercus douglasii, larger crops were produced in years wh en April temperatures were warmest, while for the evergreen Quercus ag rifolia and Quercus chrysolepis, crops were larger when there was more rain one and two years prior to the year when acorns were produced. N o correlations were found between weather and mean annual acorn produc tion by Quercus kelloggii. Within years, individual e. douglasii that flowered during periods of greater solar radiation produced more acorn s, and during 1 of 5 years individual e. lobata and e. agrifolia produ ced larger crops when they flowered during warm, dry periods. These re sults indicate that conditions favorable for pollination and fertiliza tion strongly enhance mean annual acorn production in e. lobata and e. douglasii and may have an effect on differences in acorn crop size am ong individual Q. lobata, e. douglasii, and e. agrifolia. Mean annual acorn crops of these three species were significantly concordant among three sites in central coastal California 300 km apart. Weather condi tions were also significantly correlated, especially annual rainfall a nd mean April temperatures. Thus, the environmental factors that have the strongest influence on mean annual acorn production within a site are also those that are the most geographically concordant. However, w e found no relationship between environmental factors and differences in mean annual acorn production by these same three species at the thr ee sites.