Forests
-
Now that cooler temperatures have finally returned to the Southeast, it is time to think about fall and the change of colors. There are a number of websites available to help you find times and places to see peak colors. Country Living highlighted a map which shows how peak color moves from north to south…
-
Since Hurricane Hermine is coming onshore soon, there is bound to be a lot of damage to trees across the Southeast. Here is an interesting article from Inside Science on how and why trees break. In the case of a hurricane, a lot of tree damage also comes not from the tree breaking but being…
Posted in: Forests -
Scientists have recently identified the oldest tree in Europe as a Bosnian pine growing in Greece which has been measured to be at least 1,075 years old based on tree rings. While old trees are more common in the US, they are rare in Europe because it has been populated so long, and exposure to…
-
USDA’s Southern Region Station posted an article recently describing changes that are likely to occur in water yield and forest productivity in a warmer climate. You can read it at https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/compass/2016/07/26/watersheds-of-the-future-could-mirror-a-variable-climate/. While large changes in water yield from forests are expected in parts of the US, especially in the West, the Southeast shows relatively small changes…
-
BNN.ca had an interesting story earlier this week about increases in bourbon production in Kentucky and the negative impacts on the population of white oak trees. By law, bourbon is produced by aging for at least two years in new charred white oak barrels, and the demand for bourbon is so strong that foresters are…
-
One of my favorite movies is “The Shawshank Redemption”, and according to IMDB, it is the highest-rated movie in their database. One of the pivotal scenes late in the movie revolves around a secret cache hidden near an ancient oak tree. This iconic 200-year-old tree, which was filmed in Mansfield, Ohio, fell down this week…
-
NASA’s Earth Observatory posted a striking pair of pictures recently showing the massive defoliation caused by gypsy moth caterpillars in Rhode Island. It’s amazing to me how much damage the caterpillars were able to do to the tree canopy there in just a month. You can read about it and see the pictures in more…