Abstract
Aesculus turbinata acorns were dispersed earlier than other acorn-producing species and are removed completely by rodents, although the acorns are unpalatable. The dispersal timing and low palatability to rodents on A. turbinata acorns promote the seed caching by rodents, facilitating the seedling emergence is possible even in lower-seeding years.
Acknowledgments
We thank M. Tu, Nature Conservancy, USA, for her improvement on this manuscript. This work is partly supported by grants from JSPS.