Forests
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Here’s an interesting story about a group led by University of Arizona scientists studying jet stream position using tree ring analysis. By looking at the density of wood produced late in the growing season, the scientists were able to produce a long history of high-summer jet stream locations dating back to 1725. This time series…
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When I drove to Birmingham this past weekend, I noticed a lot of damage to trees along the interstate, especially in the areas that got the most snow in our recent event. What do you need to do to take care of the trees and bushes that were damaged by the snow? Paul Pugliese has…
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Our partner the Southern Regional Extension Forestry group has a new newsletter available. You can read it here.
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According to the latest Southeast Regional Climate Hub (SERCH) newsletter, the Fire Weather Intelligence Portal has been expanded from North Carolina to cover the entire Southeast. You can check it out at https://climate.ncsu.edu/fwip/. You can also check out the SERCH newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/ncsu/southeast-climate-hub-winter-2017-newsletter?e=04d8214f9d.
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It’s well known that in a drought, trees near the tops of hills are more likely to die than trees farther down the hill. This is because water runs downhill, and whatever water is captured in the dry conditions is more likely to be stored in valleys. The water table also drops more steeply in…
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Here’s an astounding fact on timber losses in Florida due to Hurricane Irma from David Zierden on Twitter, passed on from the Florida Forest Service: the amount totalled $1.633Billion, equal to about five of Florida’s annual timber harvests. I have not seen similar loss estimates for Georgia or South Carolina so far.
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Outside magazine has an excellent article describing the causes of the forest fires which are currently covering wide swaths of the western United States. The biggest culprit is the continuing drought which has affected parts of the region this year. The wet winter may have also been a factor, since it allowed the regrowth of…