Joe, An excellent question. I have been unable to find any reasonable numbers for white birch. If anyone has any from ring counts or literature please email me. You can look at other species in the genus:
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/dendro/ents_maximum_ages.htm Betula lenta, 378 by ring count, Wright Tract, NC Riddle and Blozan http://people.eku.edu/pedersonn/oldlisteast/ Betula lenta, 361 cross-dated, new Palz, NY, Pederson et. al. 2007 Betula alleghensis, 387 ring count, Algonquin Park, Ontario, Vasiliauskas, S. A. -Ontario's Old Trees Betula papyrifera, 240 cross dated, Rainbow Falls Provincial park, Ontario, Girardin et. al, 2006 The sweet birch and yellow birch can reach substantial ages. The Betula papyrifera at 240 might go higher with more sampling Does this suggest that other birches can live to great age or not? But it does make me curious. The best (and only) age I could find for Betula nigra is from Zoar Valley where Tom Diggins got a complete core at 156. Ed Frank "Oh, I call myself a scientist. I wear a white coat and probe a monkey every now and then, but if I put monetary gain ahead of preserving nature...I couldn't live with myself." - Professor Hubert Farnsworth ----- Original Message ----- From: Joseph Zorzin To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 4:48 PM Subject: [ENTS] Re: More Catskills hmmm..... interesting, I wouldn't normally think of any white birch in an old growth forest as it usually doesn't live that long- but I suppose it's possible if an old growth stand gets opened up with storm damage, some white birch could seed in- but I wonder how old it can get? Maybe the idea that white birch can't live long compared to many of our other species is just another of the many falsehoods in the forestry world? That particular old white birch is the strangest one I've ever seen! Joe --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
