Mast is a term used to refer to the seed products of trees and shrubs. In this way, they assure their seed won't be totally consumed by wildlife during a given year of bountiful fruiting. Successful fruit crops for these species require such a high demand on the tree to use phosphorous and stored carbohydrates that they take time off to replenish reserves. Wildlife dependance on beech nuts, acorns and even white pine seeds is well proven. Acorns by themselves are a staple diet for more than 100 wildlife species in our eastern forests.
Beech nuts are important particularly in the northern part of the state where oak are rare.
White pine provides an important food source for some key rodent species. This year's seed crop is more than wildlife food. It's the seed for the next generation's forest. It may go against intuition, but to get the maximum regeneration effects requires the cutting of trees. Harvesting trees this fall, if done correctly and where there is abundant seed, will increase the numbers of seedlings that survive.