Mike, My recollection of natural red pine regeneration in far northern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan is limited. It tends to be uncommon outside of plantations. It is found on rocky sites, gets established high up on washed out or collapsed river banks, along logging skid paths, along roadsides, and areas susceptible to fire. When I do find red pine regeneration, it is often difficult to find the seed trees. They may end up high on ridges or hills up wind as much as a mile away, depending on topography. I suspect the really distant ones are animal dispersed, primarily by birds.
Paul On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 4:04 PM, Mike Leonard <[email protected]> wrote: > Bob, > > In this area, you almost never see red pine seedling/sapling regeneration. The > only places I have seen it under plantations are a few areas where there > is just a strip of red pine with a lot of sunlight getting through and there > is absolutely no understory competition. Did you note any red pine > seedling regeneration on Mt. Tom? What does it take to facilitate red pine > regeneration? Fire to kill off the competition and exposing mineral soil? Does > native red pine in MA only occur on the poor growing sites like Mt. Tom? While > declining red pine plantations should have some silvicultural treatment, > native red pine is pretty rare in this state so it’s probably a good idea > to protect these sites. > > When I marked a 40 acre lot in Petersham last year I noted 4 pole size red > pines (6-12 inches in DBH). Three of the red pines were blown part way > over and had grown banana shaped probably from the 1938 hurricane. The > fourth one was relatively straight and had a decent crown so I left that and > marked the other 3 that were on the way out. Could these have been native > red pine or did they seed in from the nearby plantation that’s on Harvard > Forest land? Well that’s about 100 yards away so I don’t know. I’ll have > to go back there and try and date those trees now to see if they predate > the plantation era (1930’s). > > I like red pine. The bark is extremely attractive but unfortunately red > pine is highly susceptible to severe snow and ice damage. > > Every once in a while I’ll see a decent solitary red pine in the middle of > a mixed stand and wonder how the heck did this tree get here? Would > someone plant a single red pine tree way back when the old farm was > abandoned? There are many other anomalies I see in the woods which makes > my job interesting! > > Mike > > *www.northquabbinforestry.com* <http://www.northquabbinforestry.com> > > -----Original Message----- > ***From:* [email protected] [ > mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>]*** On > Behalf Of* [email protected] > ***Sent:* Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:04 PM > ***To:* [email protected] > ***Cc:* Belchetz-Swenson, Sarah; Blaich, Tanya; CAMPANILE, ROBERT; > Carr, Robert; Davis, John; Dittmer, Paul; Duke, Carol; Gilmour, Carol; > Heller, Sharl; Hurley, Claudia; Kaiser, Amy; Loomis, Rob ; Matteson, > Mollie; > Ricci, Heidi; Ryan, Mike; Seale, Doug; Stahle, David; Weiss, Nancy; > Weil, Phoebe; Zelazo, Timothy; Neil, Rick > ***Subject:* [ENTS] Mt Tom and red pines > > ENTS, > > Yesterday, Monica and I took a friend for a walk on the > Metacomet-Monadnock Trail along the basalt cliffs of Mount Tom in the > Connecticut River Valley. Mount Tom is volcanic and is known for its > diversity. I will forego the usual deluge of statistics and go right > to the hike. The climb up onto the ledges is fairly steep, but worth > every > ounce of sweat. The great majority of hikers go to the cliff region of > Mount > Tom for the views. So do I, but also for the vegetation and one species > in > particular, red pine. > > Image#1-RdPinesLineUp.jpg: This image shows red pines along the > Metacomet-Monadnock Trail. These are the first pines you see when > intercepting the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail from the Quarry Trail, which > is > north of Whiting Peak. > > Image#2-RedPinesAreBeautiful.jpg: This image looks looks down > through a cluster of red pines into the valley below. > > Image#3-RedPinesAndSnag.jpg: The red pine strip goes for half a mile > or more with intermittent pines hugging the basalt ledges. There is a > little > regeneration. > > Image#4-Guardians2.jpg: This is another view of the cluster. Very > photogenic. > > In addition to the old red pines, the basalt formation is > photogenic. Take red and white pines, basalt ledges, and the valley > beyond > and Mount Tom becomes a photographer's bonanza. > > Image#5-BasaltAndValley.jpg: The basalt formations stand in bold > relief to the valley and Berkshire Hills beyond. > > Image#6-BasaltAndValley2.jpg: This image shows the surface structure > of the basalt. > > Bob > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to > [email protected]<entstrees%[email protected]> > -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
