They may not look like much, but the little acorns that litter the forest floor in fall can mean the difference between a life of plenty and one of hardship
Image: picture alliance/dpa/U. Zucchi
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When you stroll through a German forest in fall, they can be as numerous as the brown leaves that cover the forest floor: acorns. These leathery nuts that contain the seeds of oak trees are such a common sight that few people would even bother picking one up during an afternoon walk.
But it is this ubiquity, which makes them crucial to many ecosystems. If they abound, life is good. When they are scarce, life gets hard.
Many animals feed on the brown nuts, including certain bird species and small mammals like mice. But perhaps most famous among acorn-munching rodents are squirrels and chipmunks, although, deer, wild boar and even bears gorge themselves on the nutritious nuts as well.
Acorns are a popular food source, not just for small rodents but deer, wild boars and even bears, tooImage: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Fischer
Nutritious — if you can handle them
Acorns are an attractive food source because they provide a lot of protein, carbohydrates and fats, as well as minerals and vitamins. On the downside, they also contain bitter tannins, which many species struggle to digest (including humans). When cattle eat large amounts of acorns, the tannic acid produced during digestion can cause kidney failure, for example.
Obviously oak trees don't produce the nutritious nuts to feed the animals that live around them. They want to spread their seeds and since the wind won't carry the heavy nuts, they have to count on the hungry animals in the forest to do it for them.
Nature's energy bar. Acorns are full of protein, carbohydrates and fat as well as minerals and vitaminsImage: picture alliance/dpa/N. Treblin
Counting on forgetfulness
When the nuts are eaten by deer or wild boar, that doesn't work so well as they will gobble up the whole acorn, seed and all. Squirrels, on the other hand, are a different story.
When they get the chance, the little rodents will eat the seeds as well but they also like to hoard the nuts in many different caches as a reserve for when food is scarce. Putting them in many different places has the advantage of reducing the risk of all their reserves being discovered by another hungry acorn-aficionado.
The animals are generally very good at remembering where they've squirreled away their stashes. Still, occasionally, they will forget a cache, or worse, succumb to a predator or another cause of death before they can retrieve all of their nuts.
That's when the acorn gets its chance to grown into a mighty oak.
Forests in Germany
50 years ago the Bavarian Forest was declared a national park. Germans love the diversity of their forests and enjoy hiking through woodland areas. We show you a selection of fascinating forests.
Image: picture alliance/G.Delpho/WILDLIFE
Bavarian Forest National Park
The treetop path near Neuschönau leads the visitors over 1.3 kilometers to undreamt-of heights and opens uniquely beautiful views over the landscape of the Bavarian Forest, especially from the 44 meter high tree tower. In 1970 the Bavarian Forest was declared a national park - the first in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Weigel
Berchtesgaden National Park
It's the only German national park in the Alps. Because of its high mountain location, with a bit of luck, hikers here can spot such rare animals as the alpine ibex, golden eagle, alpine hare and alpine marmot.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Görlich
Black Forest National Park
Since January 2014, parts of the Northern Black Forest have been under special protection. The North Black Forest National Park in Baden-Württemberg is a showcase project championed by Winfried Kretschman, state premier and Green Party member.
Image: picture-alliance/Ronald Wittek
Jasmund National Park
It's Germany's smallest national park, but that doesn't diminish its beauty. Jasmund National Park, in the far north of the island of Rügen, is home to one of the world's few surviving primeval beech forests. In 2011, UNESCO declared it part of the World Heritage Site, "Ancient Beech Forests of Germany".
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Müritz National Park
Woodlands, lakes and marshes shape the scenery in Müritz National Park in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. After repeated human intervention in this habitat, its flora and fauna are being a given a chance to recover. The cultivated pine forests are gradually being replaced with deciduous trees such as beech and birch.
Image: Scoopshot/Ulrich Kloes
The Elbe Riverscape
An alluvial forest is considered an important part of a riverscape. Regular flooding provides a unique habitat for flora and fauna, as it does here on the Elbe in the state of Brandenburg. The Elbe River Landscape has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1997.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
Harz Mountains
This low mountain range is not just one of the largest forested areas in Germany. It's also one of the most popular. As early as 1824, the writer Heinrich Heine devoted a travelogue to it. In the middle of the Harz is the Brocken, whose summit is many a hiker's destination. In addition, many animal and plant species live in these mixed forests, among them this endangered Brocken anemone.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
Hainich National Park
The largest contiguous deciduous mixed forest in Germany lies in the state of Thüringen, or Thuringia. Because of its native beech forests with up to 800 ancient trees, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 2011. It's home to many rare animal species, such as the European wildcat.
Image: DW/C. Hoffmann
Northern Upper Palatinate Forest
Here, too, some habitats, such as moist and marshy meadow valleys, woodlands and streams, are still almost in their original state. They lend the countryside a mystical quality. The ruins of Flossenbürg Castle are a landmark in the Northern Upper Palatinate Forest nature reserve.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Spessart
A range of low wooded mountains on the border between Hesse and Bavaria, the Spessart was once used as a hunting ground by aristocrats and archbishops. The 19th-century bands of brigands there are also legendary. Wilhelm Hauff immortalized them in his novella "The Inn in the Spessart" in 1827.
