{"id":50856,"date":"2025-12-15T03:55:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/?p=50856"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:17:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:17:05","slug":"sowing-spicy-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Sowing Spicy Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\"Engraving<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A new study<\/a> coauthored by Center for Ecology and the Environment<\/a> affiliate John Orrock found that using capsaicin, a pepper-based deterrent, could help oak acorns survive long enough to germinate in forests where rodents quickly consume seeds. First published earlier this year, these findings will aid environmental management as oak-dominated forests have recently experienced significant declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To test the spicy seed theory, researchers placed treated and untreated acorns in both shrub-invaded and shrub-cleared plots and monitored how often they were removed, eaten, or dispersed. They found that the spicy coating gave acorns a better chance of surviving, though it couldn\u2019t fully counter the increased seed predation that comes with dense invasive shrubs. Additionally, capsaicin didn\u2019t change how far animals moved the acorns, and its protective coating gradually faded in the field, suggesting that while helpful, it\u2019s not a complete solution on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orrock is a professor in the College of Letters & Sciences at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison and principal investigator at the Orrock Lab<\/a>. His work centers on how behavior and ecological interactions shape patterns in nature. He studies how information, space, and time influence ecological and evolutionary processes, often focusing on terrestrial plants and mammals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New research finds that pepper-coated acorns can outsmart seed-hungry rodents, helping support forest restoration efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":50928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[47,60],"post_template":[],"class_list":["post-50856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation","tag-research","tag-winter-2025"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Sowing Spicy Seeds Supports Restoration Efforts | The Commons Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New research finds that pepper-coated acorns can outsmart seed-hungry rodents, helping support forest restoration efforts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Sowing Spicy Seeds Supports Restoration Efforts | The Commons Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New research finds that pepper-coated acorns can outsmart seed-hungry rodents, helping support forest restoration efforts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Commons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NelsonInstitute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T09:55:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T20:17:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1921\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1081\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anica Graney\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anica Graney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anica Graney\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df6b0e36a655b32dc89a8b6ad9abcd75\"},\"headline\":\"Sowing Spicy Seeds\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-15T09:55:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-13T20:17:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":205,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Research\",\"Winter 2025\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Conservation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/\",\"name\":\"How Sowing Spicy Seeds Supports Restoration Efforts | The Commons Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-15T09:55:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-13T20:17:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"New research finds that pepper-coated acorns can outsmart seed-hungry rodents, helping support forest restoration efforts.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp\",\"width\":1921,\"height\":1081,\"caption\":\"Oak tree on the side of a hill\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/sowing-spicy-seeds\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sowing Spicy Seeds\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Commons\",\"description\":\"UW\u2013Madison\u2019s quarterly environmental magazine from the Nelson Institute\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Commons Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/wrm60-5.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/wrm60-5.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"The Commons Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NelsonInstitute\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/nelsoninstitute\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/nelsoninstitute\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/nelson-institute-for-environmental-studies\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/200678372@N03\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df6b0e36a655b32dc89a8b6ad9abcd75\",\"name\":\"Anica Graney\",\"description\":\"Anica Graney began as a student communications assistant and has continued with the Nelson Institute after graduating in 2023, building her career in environmental and nonprofit communications.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nelson.wisc.edu\\\/the-commons\\\/author\\\/agraney\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Sowing Spicy Seeds Supports Restoration Efforts | The Commons Magazine","description":"New research finds that pepper-coated acorns can outsmart seed-hungry rodents, helping support forest restoration efforts.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Sowing Spicy Seeds Supports Restoration Efforts | The Commons Magazine","og_description":"New research finds that pepper-coated acorns can outsmart seed-hungry rodents, helping support forest restoration efforts.","og_url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/","og_site_name":"The Commons","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NelsonInstitute\/","article_published_time":"2025-12-15T09:55:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-13T20:17:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1921,"height":1081,"url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Anica Graney","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anica Graney","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/"},"author":{"name":"Anica Graney","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#\/schema\/person\/df6b0e36a655b32dc89a8b6ad9abcd75"},"headline":"Sowing Spicy Seeds","datePublished":"2025-12-15T09:55:38+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-13T20:17:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/"},"wordCount":205,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp","keywords":["Research","Winter 2025"],"articleSection":["Conservation"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/","url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/","name":"How Sowing Spicy Seeds Supports Restoration Efforts | The Commons Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp","datePublished":"2025-12-15T09:55:38+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-13T20:17:05+00:00","description":"New research finds that pepper-coated acorns can outsmart seed-hungry rodents, helping support forest restoration efforts.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Oak-Acorns_Hero_1920x1080.webp","width":1921,"height":1081,"caption":"Oak tree on the side of a hill"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/sowing-spicy-seeds\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sowing Spicy Seeds"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/","name":"The Commons","description":"UW\u2013Madison\u2019s quarterly environmental magazine from the Nelson Institute","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#organization","name":"The Commons Magazine","url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/wrm60-5.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/wrm60-5.webp","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"The Commons Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NelsonInstitute\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nelsoninstitute","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/nelsoninstitute","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/nelson-institute-for-environmental-studies","https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/200678372@N03\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/#\/schema\/person\/df6b0e36a655b32dc89a8b6ad9abcd75","name":"Anica Graney","description":"Anica Graney began as a student communications assistant and has continued with the Nelson Institute after graduating in 2023, building her career in environmental and nonprofit communications.","url":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/author\/agraney\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50856"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51292,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50856\/revisions\/51292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50856"},{"taxonomy":"post_template","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template?post=50856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}