We became familiar with Pinus gerardiana as undergraduates on field trips in the Himalaya in Himachal Pradesh and, of course, knew it as source of the most delicious chilgoza nut.
Well, it turns out most chilgoza trees in Himachal Pradesh are over 60 years old, suggesting that they are not regenerating very well. These trees are endangered and not just because more people are discovering the value of those delicious seeds causing over-harvesting. Natural regeneration requires dispersal of seeds by the large-spotted (Kashmir) nutcracker, which extracts and takes away seeds to stash them under rocks — where some of the seeds germinate and grow into saplings. Apparently this is not happening much now. Here is a glimpse into this relationship: The chilgoza’s last stand.
Can this insight be used in conservation of these pine trees? There seems to be no other recent study on this particular association — no scientific publication. What do we know about these trees in other areas where it occurs (patchily upto Afghanistan)? What do we know about the distribution of the birds? Are they survive with dwindling chilgoza populations? Lots of questions to be addressed!
Made for each other: A symbiosis of birds and pines