Mike,
Very true. I think we humans may be inadvertently responsible for
these
trees to finally fully express their potential. As such, are they
artificial?
Will F. Blozan
President, Eastern Native Tree Society
President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.
"No sympathy for apathy"
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Michael Davie
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 12:34 PM
To: ENTSTrees
Subject: [ENTS] Re: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest LiDAR ground-
truthing
expedition 1-2010
I think the reason that these second-growth stands tend to be the
taller ones would be due to a couple of factors. The fact that the
area was cut at one time would create a densely competing stand of
evenly-aged trees, in excellent soils and on good sites. The trees,
growing as a unit, have not been through enough great disturbances to
start battering the crowns and texturing the canopy. They protect
each
other from wind, to a certain extent. As they get older and more
broken up in the tops, with more canopy gaps and individual exposure,
they might be more likely to become shorter, overall, or at least
they
might even out. I don't know how often we would naturally get such
total removal and regeneration of a forest stand on a site like this,
even with hurricanes and downbursts (but sure, maybe), so these types
of tall forests may not be possible without being clearcut in the
first place.
Mike
On Jan 12, 12:18 am, Steve Galehouse <[email protected]> wrote:
Josh, ENTS-
So why would second growth be taller than old growth, unless the old
growth
was really second growth "once removed"? I think if younger trees
are
growing larger and faster than their ancestors, they must have been
released
from some environmental constraint, which might relate to climate
change,
or
species mix degradation in the forest.
Steve
On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 10:51 PM, Josh Kelly
<[email protected]>wrote:
Will, Gaines,
The "Type Map: Gennett Lumber Company Tract No. 309f.g. Graham Co.
North Carolina" by John Wasilk (sound familiar) and Party from
June,
July 1935 clearly shows an abandoned field adjacent to second
growth
coves we visited, but depicts the coves, like the 99% of the rest
of
the 13,055 acre tract, as "virgin". The more I think about it, the
more I think those coves were logged sometime from August 1935-late
1937, when the USFS acquired the tract. The wagon road that led to
the abandoned field gave better access to that exceptional spot
than
was available to Poplar Cove, so now we are left with exceptional
2nd
growth, rather than exceptional old-growth. I'd wager many of the
poplars in that stand regenerated in the late 1930's while a few
are a
decade or two older. For all of you botanically inclined ENTS, I
have
started to key in on a couple of tall tree and high-productivity-
site-
indicating herbs. They are Goldie's Fern (Dryopteris goldiana) and
walking fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum), both basophiles or
calceophiles. A number of the tall tree spots in the Smokies
have one
or both of these species as well as "Wachacha Flats" -the name I
propose for the exceptional 2nd growth area at Kilmer.
For all of you of you folks interesed in LiDAR and tall trees, I am
compiling an article from information contributed by Paul Jost,
Jenn
Hushaw (Nichols School masters student at Duke), Hugh Irwin (ENTS,
SAFC), Will Blozan, Jess Riddle, and myself. Included in the
article
will be a narrative about our experiences utilizing LiDAR data and
some notes on its accuracy and precision in the mountains of North
Carolina. It will also include some fancy smancy maps!
Josh
On Jan 11, 7:22 pm, "Will Blozan" <[email protected]>
wrote:
Gaines,
I have a 170 footer in Big Creek; 69 years at BH. The Kilmer
trees may
only
be 75 years old.
Will F. Blozan
President, Eastern Native Tree Society
President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.
"No sympathy for apathy"
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
On
Behalf Of Gaines McMartin
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 7:20 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ENTS] Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest LiDAR ground-
truthing
expedition 1-2010
Will:
Thanks for the very exciting account of your survey in Joyce
Kilmer. Maybe you know, but there have been reports of site
indexes
of up to 140 feet for tuliptree. Second growth can really be
something if given just a little time. I don't have any data for
tuliptree growth rates past 50 years. It may be out there.
--Gaines
