Naturalists and casual observers alike have been struck by the special relationship bet

Naturalists and casual observers alike have been struck by the special relationship

between squirrels and acorns (the seeds of oak trees). Ecologists, though, cannot observe

These energetic mammals scurrying up and down oak trees and eating and burying acorns

without wondering about their complex relationship with trees. Are squirrels dispersers

(5) and planters of oak forests or pesky seed predators？ The answer is not simple. Squirrels

may devour many acorns, but by storing and failing to recover up to 74 percent of them

(as they do when seeds are abundant), these arboreal o\rodents can also aid regeneration

and dispersal of the oaks.

Their destructive powers are well documented. According to one report, squirrels

(10) destroyed tens of thousands of fallen acorns from an oak stand on the University of

Indiana campus. A professor there estimated that each of the large while oaks had.

Produced between two and eight thousand acorns, but within weeks of seed maturity,

Hardly an intact acorn could be found among the fallen leaves.

Deer, turkey, wild pigs, and bears also feed heavily on acorns, but do not store them,

(15) And are therefore of no benefit to the trees. Flying squirrels, chipmunks, and mice are

Also unlikely to promote tree dispersal---whose behavior. of caching (hiding) acorns below

The leaf litter often promotes successful germination of acorns---and perhaps blue jays,

Important long-distance dispersers, seem to help oaks spread and reproduce.

Among squirrels, though, there is a particularly puzzling behavior. pattern. Squirrels

(20) pry off the caps of acorns, bite through the shells to get at the nutritious inner kernels,

and then discard them half-eaten. The ground under towing oaks is often littered with

thousands of half-eaten acorns, each one only bitten from the top. Why would any animal

waste so much time and energy and risk exposure to such predators as red-tail hawks only

to leave a large part of each acorn uneaten？ While research is not conclusive at this point,

(25) one thing that is certain is that squirrels do hide some of the uneaten portions, and these

acorn halves, many of which contain the seeds, may later germinate.

What does the passage mainly discuss？

A．The ecology of oak trees

B．Factors that determine the feeding habits of Squirrels

C．Various species of animals that promote the dispersal of tree seeds

D．The relationship between squirrels and oak trees