Acorns Aplenty: Why So Many In Brookdale Park This Year?

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — “Why are there so many acorns in Brookdale Park?” If you’re asking this question, you’re not going nuts, a local nonprofit says.

“Have you been walking through the park wondering if it’s possible there are more acorns on the ground this year than in years past? You are not wrong!” the Brookdale Park Conservancy wrote in a social media post last week.

Brookdale Park – which is managed by Essex County – is located in Montclair and Bloomfield. It’s the third-largest park in the county system, spanning 121.41 acres.

Jacoba Coes, a Rutgers master gardener and board member of Brookdale Park Conservancy, explained more in a Nov. 10 blog post:

“Oaks produce acorns on a boom and bust cycle,” Coes wrote. “Most years they drop about 2,000 acorns per tree but every 2 to 5 years, oaks create big bumper crops. These years are called ‘mast’ years and a large oak will produce around 10,000 acorns!”

Coes continued:

“The mast (boom) year takes a lot of energy out of the tree. After this year’s mast, the 2024 crop will be tiny as the tree is restoring its energy. Ecologically, the boom year surplus of food drives up predator populations in the following year. You will see lots of baby squirrels and chipmunks next year, followed by a reduced population in 2025 due to a lower acorn crop.”

It’s still unknown why this happens, experts say – although some guess that it may be caused by variations in temperature and natural rainfall.

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