The Future Forest

The trees that will one day fill the newly created woodland opening are already in place as seedlings and small plants crowding the forest floor.  Growing in the perpetual shade of a closed canopy has kept the trees in a diminutive condition for many years.  Though small, they are perfectly healthy trees and will take advantage of the sun’s energy to begin a period of rapid growth.  It will now be a race to see which trees will claim a permanent position in the new section of forest.

The most abundant seedling is that of the Sugar Maple.  Sugar Maples have a dominant place in the forest community here and their seeds easily germinate.  Quick to take advantage of a bit of sunlight, Sugar Maples are an early favorite to win the race for dominance.

Mature Ash are less common than Sugar Maple, but their seedlings are just as numerous.  This is also a fast growing tree and will shoot up as quickly as the maples.  These could easily be the only two species to grow to maturity in the new opening.  Slower growing species might survive, but their growth will stop once they are topped by the faster growing species.  In order to end up with a mix typical of the surrounding forest, it is often necessary to cut some of the Ash and Maples away from the slow growers.  It’ll be several years before I have to make any decision on that type of action.

I found a single Red Mulberry in the exposed ground cover of the opening.  So far, there haven’t been any mature Mulberries discovered at Blue Jay Barrens.

Blackjack Oak is more often found in fields and fence rows outside the mature woodland.  This is a species highly favored by the Edwards’ Hairstreak butterfly larvae, but the ants associated with that larva are not found in the woods.  My management decision would be to suppress this oak in favor of another species from the Red Oak group.

Several species are present from the White Oak group.  It would be nice to have two or three of these survive to become canopy trees.  Historically, the forests of this area were composed of mixed species.  That’s what I would like to see fill this opening.

Hickories are also standing by to enter the race.  Hickories and Oaks produce large, heavy seeds that support an amazing number of mammal and bird species.  The seeds are of a different type and arrive at a different time than those of maples and ash.  The presence of both types of trees in the mix allows for a healthy and varied mix of woodland creatures.

On the far side of the clearing are young trees that grew up in response to earlier openings in the canopy.  Most of those young trees are Sugar Maple and they grow so closely together that it’s difficult to walk through that area.  This clearing will look like that in another 20 years, but I hope the species mix will be a little more varied.

Floodplain

This narrow strip of level floodplain area was the last field not near the house that was used for the production of annual crops. This was the largest area of deep soil to be found on the property and would have been a prime area for Burley Tobacco production. Its progression to a more natural ecosystem is progressing along an interesting course and I’m not sure where it will ultimately end. Despite a large number of deciduous trees scattered through the site, the area remains relatively open.

Green and White Ash are the dominant trees here. They are quite tall, but the trunks have a rather narrow diameter. This is typical of trees that begin life in a highly fertile soil. A typical tobacco field abandoned in the late 1970’s would have been left with an inflated level of fertility. Trees growing from these fields would have shown excessive growth through the pole stage and would have produced a stand of tall, thin trees.

Sycamores, growing along the bank of the creek, are much older and were in place and growing at the time the field was being cropped. These trees managed to avoid the die-backs that affected many Sycamores about 20 years ago.

Across the floodplain from the Sycamores are Honey Locusts that thrive where the base of the hill meets the level ground. Black Walnuts are the second most prominent tree on the floodplain. I don’t know whether or not the walnuts were naturally seeded or were planted as seedlings. The surrounding woods contain no walnuts that could have served as a seed source.

The Ash trees have been dieing at a rapid rate over the last ten years. This is also typical of trees that begin life in high fertility soils. It takes less root mass to support a tree under high fertility conditions, so the top outgrows the roots. When fertility levels begin to decrease, the roots have trouble expanding rapidly enough to keep the top growth from being stressed. The stress may kill the trees outright or it may allow the trees to fall victim to insect and disease invasions.

Another indicator of earlier high fertility conditions is the absence of cedars from the tree mix. Cedars quickly invade low fertility sites, but have trouble competing against vegetation that is boosted by high fertility. This section is completely free of cedars despite the fact that surrounding hillside areas show a heavy cedar growth.

The ground cover is primarily composed of species that have a broad range of light tolerance. I haven’t yet decided how this should be managed. As one tree grows to produce more shade, another dies to bring in more sunlight. As far as I can tell, this pattern will continue for quite some time. I guess I still have some time to study the area and decide on some management options before the site naturally evolves into something else.

Snow on Branches

The recent snow was one of those that stuck to all of the tree branches. This makes a very attractive scene and provides many photo opportunities.

How can the snow pile up to such an impressive height on these tiniest of twigs?

Before the snow arrived, conditions were warm and rainy. Water on the tree branches began to freeze as the temperatures fell. The first snowflakes were captured by the ice to form a stable base upon which the falling snow could build. The wet snowflakes froze together to form a stable column that grew rapidly. The snow caps were strong enough to withstand the strong winds that developed as the storm intensified.

Evergreens captured their share of the snow. Snow laden pine boughs are not as aesthetically pleasing as bare deciduous branches. It didn’t take much weight to lay these White Pine branches down on the ground. The snow plastered on the side of the tree trunks is from the strong winds that came blowing out of the north.

Cedars also began to droop under the snow load. There wasn’t enough snow to bend the branches to the breaking point. These trees should regain their original shapes once it warms up a bit.

The tall grass stalks behaved much like the tree branches. The ice, snow and wind laid down a lot of tall grass. This tends to bury much of the seed that is normally accessible by the birds.