Bob, I have no way of proving it- but I suspect most species can live much
longer than any which have yet been found. Since remaining old growth is such a
small percentage of the entire landscape, we can at best only estimate what the
full potential is.
Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Cc: Zelazo, Timothy ; CAMPANILE, ROBERT
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 8:47 AM
Subject: [ENTS] Re: ordinary versus extraordinary forests
Ed,
Don Bertolette and I cored a large white ash on Dunbar Brook back in
the 1990s. It was 230 years old at core height. The big Dunbar Ash can be
considered to be 275. I dated two other white ash trees that fell across the
Raycroft Extension Trail. One was 170+/- and the other was 180+/-. This was at
the distance up the trunk where they fell across the trail - about 35 feet for
both trees. I dated a downed ash on Bryant Homestead that was approximately 200
years old. My guess is that the species commonly reaches ages of 175 to 250
years. I doubt that many get much over 300 years, but that's just a guess. I'll
search for written records.
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Edward Frank" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 6:12:12 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [ENTS] Re: ordinary versus extraordinary forests
Bob,
Image #1 - Striped Maple - The oldest we have found is 69 years old from the
Great Smokies - a core or ring count would be worthwhile for this tree. Surely
there are specimens older than 69 years - Maybe this one. Certainly coring the
tree would not harm it.
Image #4 - Bigtooth Aspen - Bob, how do you know what the lifespan of a
Bigtooth Aspen really is? Any population will loose members over time, and
this may be happening in this stand, but I am not sure how that directly
relates to the end of lifespan for the tree species or stand. Again this is a
species for which we have no organized data (actually I have not found any good
numbers a all.) The oldest in the Eastern old-List for the species is just
113, and I am sure some of these are older than that - but we just don't have
good numbers for the species.
Image #5: Bob do you have a compilation of the results of your coring in the
early 1990's? Can you get one? If so how about posting the information, along
with notations on whether the tree is still alive if you know. Again our data
for the species is pitiful. The oldest I have compiled is a relatively young
141 from the Smokies by Blozan and Riddle. I know that is no where close to
the oldest for the species. But so many trees are cored and the data is never
available for anyone else to see. That is why I created the ENTS Maximum Age
list, to supplement official compilations.
I will add this post to the Special Places Category as well as the
Massachusetts Location.
Ed
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and all science." - Albert Einstein
Image#1-TanyaRolandOnStripedMaple.jpg: This image conveys a message. Yes,
the downed tree that Roland Blaich and his daughter Tanya are sitting on is a
striped maple. Striped maple? Impossible, you say! Not at all. I visited this
very tree for years and watched it get larger and larger. But alas, it went
down. It now returns its nutrients to the earth that so faithfully nourished
it.
Image#4-BigtoothAspen.jpg: Another stretch near the brook has a stand of
impressive bigtooth aspens that are now at the far end of their life spans. One
on the other side of the brook may soon become the height champion.
Image#5-TanyaAndWhiteAsh: In the early 1990s, we cored the Dunbar Ash, and
at the time, we counted 258 rings at core height. Today this old gent is at
least 275 years young.
Image#7-OldYellowBirch.jpg: Roots of this ancient yellow birch engulf the
rock on which it seeded maybe 300 years ago. "Rock-eating" birches are a common
sight in the Dunbar forest. A Tolkien-like environment of moss and fern-covered
boulders, tangled roots, twisting trunks and limbs, many species of herbs, and
a canopy high above create that magic forest elixir that we commonly associate
with old growth forests.
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